For a substance that is relatively unknown to the public, it’s amazing how many everyday products TiO2 can be found in. Because of its many varied properties, our skin, cities, cars, homes, food and environment are made brighter, safer, more resilient and cleaner by TiO2. With a legacy of 100 years of safe commercial use, TiO2 is only going to become more vital as our environment faces greater challenges from a growing population.

Lithopone, a white pigment composed of a mixture of barium sulfate and zinc sulfide, is commonly used in the leather industry as a coloring agent. Leather suppliers around the world rely on lithopone to achieve the desired color and finish on their products.

Mexican researchers sought to evaluate the effects of E171 across a span of conditions in mice, including its influence on behavior, along with the effects on the colon and liver. The research, published in 2020 in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology, showed that E171 promoted anxiety and induced adenomas, or noncancerous tumors, in the colon. They also found that E171 heightened goblet cells hypertrophy and hyperplasia, which is typically seen in asthma patients and triggered by smoking or external pollutants and toxins. They also noted mucins overexpression in the mice, which can be linked to cancer cell formation.