In the meantime, some big manufacturers boosted their product pricing to better their margins, such as Venator, which increased its titanium dioxide prices by roughly 160 USD /MT for the third quarter of 2021 in the North America region. Overall, prices for Anatase grade in the United States hovered about 3485 USD /MT through the end of June.

For his part, Kaminski argues most of the studies have been in animals, and any effects found were minuscule. He and his team also contested some of the findings in a 2019 study that found no evidence of increased inflammation or changes in the GI tract.

The main concern with nanoparticles is that they are so tiny that they are absorbed into the skin more than we want them (ideally sunscreen should remain on the surface of the skin). Once absorbed they might form unwanted complexes with proteins and they might promote the formation of evil free radicals. But do not panic, these are concerns under investigation. A 2009 review article about the safety of nanoparticles summarizes this, to date, in-vivo and in-vitro studies have not demonstrated percutaneous penetration of nanosized particles in titanium dioxide and zinc oxide sunscreens. The English translation is, so far it looks like sunscreens with nanoparticles do stay on the surface of the skin where they should be.