Should I be worried about the use of titanium dioxide in my toothpaste?

Mars Wrigley, the company that makes Skittles, is being sued by a California man who claims the candy contains a known toxin that poses such a serious health risk that Skittles are unfit for human consumption.

When manufacturers add titanium dioxide to foods and other ingestible products, it’s typically referred to as E171, which relates to food-grade purity.

In a study published in 2022 in the journal Particle and Fibre Technology, researchers examined the impact of maternal exposure to titanium dioxide nanoparticles in newborn offspring mice. They found that “a chronic exposure to TiO2 NPs during pregnancy alters the respiratory activity of offspring, characterized by an abnormally elevated rate of breathing.” Breathing was also shown to be “significantly and abnormally accelerated,” and the ability for neural circuitry to effectively adjust breathing rates was impaired. The researchers concluded: “Our findings thus demonstrate that a maternal exposure to TiO2 NPs during pregnancy affects the normal development and operation of the respiratory centers in progeny.”

In general, nanoparticles have been shown to accumulate in the body, particularly in organs in the gastrointestinal tract, along with the liver, spleen, and capillaries of the lungs.