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Why all of a sudden is there so much interest in the safety of Titanium Dioxide?

Researchers from France and Luxembourg gave E171 (the much more food friendly name for Titanium Dioxide) in Europe and the United States, to lab rats in their drinking water for 100 days.

Of those rats, 40 per cent of the exposed rodents developed “preneoplastic lesions” or precancerous growths. The Titanium Dioxide also inhibited the immune systems of the rats and “accelerated” the growth of the lesions. France’s INRA agricultural research institute, which took part in the study, said in a statement.“These results demonstrate a role in initiating and promoting the early stages of colorectal cancer formation,” though it said no conclusion could be drawn about later phases of cancer, or of any danger to humans……….(not till they test it on us!!)

The results of the study were published in the Nature journal Scientific Reports.

Animal studies have shown that, when consumed as a food additive, titanium dioxide can induce intestinal inflammation.

But if thats not quite enough..............

Because of their small size, nanoparticles may have unique physical and chemical properties. These properties may cause them to interact with living systems differently than larger materials with the same chemical composition (also known as bulk materials).

Following six months of phasing out the additive, titanium dioxide will be completely banned in the European Union starting August 7. France had previously banned the use of titanium dioxide in food starting in January 2020.

③ Paper making industry: Paper making and paper products industry is the third largest application industry of titanium dioxide. Paper using titanium dioxide has good whiteness, high strength, luster, thin and smooth, and is not easy to penetrate when printing. Under the same conditions, the opacity is 10 times higher than that of paper using calcium carbonate and talc powder, and the weight can also be reduced by 15% to 30%. The amount of titanium dioxide in decorative paper accounts for 20%~40% of its raw materials, and the amount of titanium dioxide in other papers is about 1%~5%. Due to the continuous adjustment of the industrial structure of the paper products industry from 2016 to 2018, according to the data of China Paper Association, the output of China's paper products in 2019 was 72.19 million tons, a significant year-on-year increase of 29.4%, and the use of titanium dioxide increased significantly.

In a 2020 study published in the Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology, researchers conducted an in vitro experiment to analyze the effects of TiO2 nanoparticles on a human neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cell line. The scientists evaluated “reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, apoptosis, cellular antioxidant response, endoplasmic reticulum stress and autophagy.” The results showed that exposure to the nanoparticles “induced ROS generation in a dose dependent manner, with values reaching up to 10 fold those of controls. Nrf2 nuclear localization and autophagy also increased in a dose dependent manner. Apoptosis increased by 4- to 10-fold compared to the control group, depending on the dose employed.” 

The EU expert panel did not identify an immediate health concern linked to TiO₂ when used as a food additive. However, due mainly to uncertainties concerning the safety of TiO₂ nanoparticles, the panel concluded that TiO₂ as a food additive (E171) could no longer be considered safe.

Lithopone B301

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Other experts say there is simply no conclusive evidence at this point that titanium dioxide is damaging to humans after ingesting. Kaminski in particular said the research studies cite health hazards that were found by using high doses of the product, which you would not normally see in food.

“Unlike some other chemicals used in food, titanium dioxide has no nutritive, preservative, or food safety function—its use is purely cosmetic,” said CSPI principal scientist for additives and supplements, Thomas Galligan. “The prospect of titanium dioxide nanoparticles damaging DNA is concerning enough for us to recommend consumers avoid foods that have it.”