However, the use of titanium dioxide has also raised concerns about its potential impact on human health and the environment. Some studies have suggested that titanium dioxide nanoparticles may have harmful effects when inhaled or ingested. Manufacturers of titanium dioxide are therefore taking steps to minimize the risk of exposure and develop safer products.
Europe
In a study published in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology in 2016, researchers investigated whether titanium dioxide exposure led to an increase in colorectal tumor creation in mice by using a colitis associated cancer model. By measuring tumor progression markers, the researchers found that mice given titanium dioxide experienced enhanced tumor formation in the distal colon. There was also a decrease of cells that act as a protective barrier in the colon. The researchers wrote: “These results suggest that E171 could worsen pre-existent intestinal diseases.”
French researchers studied how and where E171 nanoparticles enter the bloodstream, first studying the route through pigs and then in vitro with human buccal cells, for a 2023 study published in the journal Nanotoxicology. The research showed that the nanoparticles absorbed quickly through the mouth and then into the bloodstream, before damaging DNA and hindering cell regeneration.
The concern from animal studies is that high amounts of titanium dioxide have increased inflammation and colon tumor formation, said Dr. Johnson-Arbor. A 2021 review, meanwhile, suggested that using titanium dioxide as a food additive weakens the gut lining and worsens the progression of inflammatory bowel disease.
The conventional surface treatment methods of titanium alloy include glow discharge plasma deposition, oxygen ion implantation, hydrogen peroxide treatment, thermal oxidation, sol-gel method, anodic oxidation, microarc oxidation, laser alloying, and pulsed laser deposition. These methods have different characteristics and are applied in different fields. Glow discharge plasma deposition can get a clean surface, and the thickness of the oxide film obtained is 2 nm to 150 nm [2–8]. The oxide film obtained from oxygen ion implantation is thicker, about several microns [9–14]. Hydrogen peroxide treatment of titanium alloy surface is a process of chemical dissolution and oxidation [15, 16]. The dense part of the oxide film is less than 5 nm [17–21]. The oxide film generated from the thermal oxidation method has a porous structure, and its thickness is commonly about 10-20 μm [22–25]. The oxide film from the sol-gel method is rich in Ti-OH, a composition that could induce apatite nucleation and improve the combining of implants and bone. It has a thickness of less than 10 μm [26–28]. Applied with the anodic oxidation method, the surface can generate a porous oxide film of 10 μm to 20 μm thickness [29–31]. Similarly, the oxide film generated from the microarc oxidation method is also porous and has a thickness of 10 μm to 20 μm [32, 33].
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