What exactly is titanium dioxide?

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It is suitable as an alternative to titanium dioxide when higher acid resistance is required, such as in adhesive joints and sealants. 

TiO2 itself was officially first named and created in a laboratory in the late 1800s. It wasn’t mass manufactured until the early 20th century, when it started to take over as a safer alternative to other white pigments.

Recent analyses of food-grade TiO₂ samples have found that a significant portion of particles may be within the nanoscale. These particles (also known as nanoparticles) range in size from 1 to 100 nm, where 1 nm equals 1 billionth of a metre (the width of a typical human hair is 80,000 to 100,000 nm).

R-895 is a paint grade titanium dioxide pigment produced by the chlorination process. Recommended for use in a variety of coating applications.

Titanium dioxide prices varied across the Asia-Pacific region in this quarter. The supply disruption caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine made the supply of the feedstock titanium concentrate even more problematic, and in the first half of the second quarter, a bullish market outlook prevailed. The decline in TiO2 market values in India has also been backed by a decline in demand from downstream industries like automotive and construction.

The FDA has not updated its general guidance on safety assessments since 2007. Within that time, there has been a significant increase in research on the confluence of toxicology, nanotechnology and human health. The EU updates its guidance regularly with new science available to offer proper safety assessments, with its most recent update published in 2021.

It’s particularly useful in sunscreen as it has impressive UV resistance and helps block the sun’s UVA and UVB rays from reaching your skin (6Trusted Source).

Titanium dioxide comes in the form of a white powder and is sometimes used in cosmetics to adjust a color to a lighter shade. This is also why it can produce a white cast.

Additionally, the committee noted that the available data did not provide convincing evidence of genotoxicity for titanium dioxide as a food additive, but recognized the limitations in current methodologies with respect to the testing of poorly soluble particulate materials. Although there were uncertainties in the genotoxicity data, the experts took into account the fact that the additive was not carcinogenic in adequately conducted two-year studies in mice and rats at doses of up to 7,500 mg/kg BW per day for mice, and 2,500 mg/kg BW per day for rats, the highest doses tested. There was also no evidence of reproductive or developmental toxicity in studies in rats at doses up to 1,000 mg/kg BW per day, the highest doses tested.  

In a 2017 study published in Scientific Reports, researchers exposed rats to human-relevant levels of E171 to examine the effects of intestinal inflammation and carcinogenesis. They saw that “a 100-day E171 treatment promoted colon microinflammation and initiated preneoplastic lesions while also fostering the growth of aberrant crypt foci in a chemically induced carcinogenesis model.” They continued: “Stimulation of immune cells isolated from Peyer’s Patches [which are clusters of lymphoid follicles found in the intestine] showed a decrease in Thelper (Th)-1 IFN-γ secretion, while splenic Th1/Th17 inflammatory responses sharply increased,” researchers wrote. “A 100-day titanium dioxide treatment promoted colon microinflammation and initiated preneoplastic lesions.” The scientists concluded: “These data should be considered for risk assessments of the susceptibility to Th17-driven autoimmune diseases and to colorectal cancer in humans exposed to TiO2 from dietary sources.”