We even use titanium dioxide when brushing our teeth as it’s found in many toothpastes.
Conclusion
Titanium dioxide can boost and brighten colors because of how well it absorbs and also scatters light. In food and drugs, this additive is known as E171 and helps define colors clearly and can prevent degradation (cracking and breakdown of materials) from exposure to sunlight.
Titanium dioxide particles help light scatter and reflect, Kelly Johnson-Arbor, MD, a medical toxicology physician at the National Capital Poison Center, told Health. Because of that, we often use it as a whitening agent.
Titanium dioxide is produced in two main forms. The primary form, comprising over 98 percent of total production, is pigment grade titanium dioxide. The pigmentary form makes use of titanium dioxide’s excellent light-scattering properties in applications that require white opacity and brightness. The other form in which titanium dioxide is produced is as an ultrafine (nanomaterial) product. This form is selected when different properties, such as transparency and maximum ultraviolet light absorption, are required, such as in cosmetic sunscreens.


The European region struggled with the rising inflation that caused energy prices to rise leading to higher production costs thereby, negatively impacting the prices of titanium dioxide. The transportation routes were further disrupted along with the uncertainties in the construction and automotive industries. In addition to this, the offtakes and purchasing behaviour of the end-user consumers also declined, fueling the declining price trendss for titanium dioxide.
According to the EFSA's Expert Panel on Food Additives and Flavorings 2021 opinion regarding titanium dioxide, it could not rule out a concern for genotoxicity from ingestion of the material based on a perceived gap in data on this risk, which serves as the basis for current ban, said a March report on the decision.
For research published in Archives of Toxicology in 2020, scientists fed one group of mice a solution containing titanium dioxide for one month, and compared it to those that did not receive the additive. They found “the richness and evenness of gut microbiota were remarkably decreased and the gut microbial community compositions were significantly changed” in the titanium dioxide group when compared with the control group. The tests also revealed that the titanium dioxide exposure could cause locomotor dysfunction, or mobility issues “by elevating the excitement of enteric neurons, which might spread to the brain via gut-brain communication by vagal pathway.” The researchers concluded: “These findings provide valuable insights into the novel mechanism of TiO2NP-induced neurotoxicity. Understanding the microbiota-gut-brain axis will provide the foundation for potential therapeutic or prevention approaches against TiO2NP-induced gut and brain-related disorders.”
For a review published in 2023 in the journal Environmental Pollution, researchers examined E171 as a possible factor promoting obesity-related metabolic disorders. Because gut microbiota play an important role in immune function maintenance and development, and because titanium dioxide as a food additive has been shown to alter gut microbiota, researchers wanted to review “the dysregulations along the gut microbiota-immune system axis after oral TiO2 exposure compared to those reported in obese or diabetic patients, and to highlight potential mechanisms by which foodborne TiO2 nanoparticles may increase the susceptibility to develop obesity-related metabolic disorders.” The study authors discovered recurrent changes in the gut microbiota composition when exposed to titanium dioxide nanoparticles, with an imbalance of intestinal symbiotic microbiota. These changes and imbalances were also reported and played a role in the development of obesity, the authors wrote. This highlights “foodborne TiO2 nanoparticles as an endocrine disruptor-like chemical promoting obesity-related disorders,” the authors concluded.
Thanks to its rheological and optical properties, lithopone supplier 30% offers both technical and economic advantages in the substitution of titanium dioxide in different applications. Among these advantages, it has been observed that lithopone supplier 30% has algaecidal properties in paints, which gives greater protection to the coating.
We even use titanium dioxide when brushing our teeth as it’s found in many toothpastes.
It's all over the place in our environment, said Dr. Johnson-Arbor.