Titanium dioxide is widely used as a color-enhancer in cosmetic and over-the-counter products like lipsticks, sunscreens, toothpaste, creams, and powders. It’s usually found as nano-titanium dioxide, which is much smaller than the food-grade version (7Trusted Source).
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Some websites maintain titanium dioxide is inferior to zinc oxide, another mineral sunscreen ingredient whose core characteristics are similar to those of titanium dioxide. The reality is that titanium dioxide is a great broad-spectrum SPF ingredient and is widely used in all manner of sun-protection products. What gets confusing for some consumers is trying to decipher research that ranks sunscreen ingredients by a UV spectrum graph. By most standards, broad-spectrum coverage for sunscreen ingredients is defined as one that surpasses 360 nanometers (abbreviated as “nm” - how the sun’s rays are measured). Titanium dioxide exceeds this range of protection, but depending on whose research you read, it either performs as well as or slightly below zinc oxide.