Applications

Genotoxicity and cytotoxicity 

≥99.0

Assessment of biocompatibility in prokaryotic cells

A study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry in 2019 sought to examine the effects of titanium dioxide on intestinal inflammation. Researchers did this by feeding rats titanium dioxide nanoparticles and found that, after the course of two to three months, the animals had lower body weights and induced intestinal inflammation. The researchers also found the nanoparticles altered gut microbiota composition and aggravated chronic colitis. The rats also experienced reduced populations of CD4+T cells (which are cells that help organize immune responses by prompting other immune cells to fight infection), regulatory T cells, and white blood cells in mesenteric lymph nodes. The researchers wrote: “Dietary TiO2 nanoparticles could interfere with the balance of the immune system and dynamic of gut microbiome, which may result in low-grade intestinal inflammation and aggravated immunological response to external stimulus, thus introducing potential health risk.”

Here's what you need to know about titanium dioxide:

≤0.3

Here it has been shown that functionalization of P25TiO2NPs with vitamin B2 was able to significantly decrease the oxidative stress produced when they are exposed to sunlight. This finding is of main importance to prevent skin damage and toxicity of sunscreens containing this form of untreated titanium dioxide and should be taken into consideration when updating the regulations mentioned above .

The production of ROS was studied on white blood cells as a model to screen the effect on eukaryotic cells after being exposed to samples and solar simulated irradiation (according to the level of penetration under the skin). For that purpose, the leukocytes were separated from anticoagulated fresh blood using the Ficoll-Hypaque reactive in a well-known technique [33]. Then, 50 μL of suspensions of P25TiO₂NPs (0.2 mg/mL and 0.02 mg/mL), vitaminB2@P25TiO₂NPs (0.2 mg/mL and 0.02 mg/mL) and vitamin B2 (0.2 mg/mL and 0.02 mg/mL) were prepared and mixed with 50 μL of white blood cells suspension. A solution of 3% H₂O₂ was used as positive control and PBS as negative control. Then, the samples were irradiated using the LED panel for 3 and 6 h to simulate the light penetration into the skin. Also, a set of samples was kept in the dark as control. Finally, the ROS were detected through the colorimetric assay employing the nitroblue tetrazolium salt (NBT salt) and the absorbance at 650 nm was measured. The experiment was reproduced twice; the standard deviation was calculated and p-value < 0.05 were considered significant.

Titanium Dioxide is one of the two members of the elite sunscreen group called physical sunscreens (or inorganic sunscreens if you’re a science geek and want to be precise).

Having thus described the origin and uses of the pigment, we now come to the question, what is lithopone? It is, in short, a chemical compound usually consisting of 30.5 per cent zinc sulphide, 1.5 per cent zinc oxide and 68 per cent barium sulphate, but these proportions vary slightly in the different makes. Lithopone of this composition is sold as the highest grade, either as red seal or green seal, as it best suits the idea of the manufacturer. Many manufacturers, especially in Europe, sell and also export other brands under other seals, containing 24, 20, 18 and as little as 12 per cent of zinc sulphide with very small percentages of zinc oxide, the balance being usually barium sulphate, but sometimes certain portions of China clay or gypsum (calcium sulphate) or whiting (calcium carbonate). Such brands are not a chemical compound, but mechanical mixtures of the chemically compounded lithopone and the admixtures referred to.

Titanium dioxide is a naturally-occurring mineral found in the earth’s crust. Because of its white color, opaqueness, and ability to refract light, the ingredient is often used as a pigment, brightener, and opacifier, which is an ingredient that makes a formulation more opaque. Titanium dioxide is also a UV filter and so is an effective active ingredient in sunscreens. It’s often used in cosmetic loose and pressed powders, especially “mineral powder” cosmetics, in addition to other cosmetics, lotions, toothpaste, and soap.

Over the last several years, nanoparticles have come under scrutiny for adverse health effects. Nanoparticles are ultrafine particles between 1 to 100 nanometers in diameter. (To put this in perspective, the average human hair is around 80,000 nanometers thick.) Because of their size, which can be engineered and manipulated at the atomic or molecular level, nanoparticles exhibit unique physical, chemical, and biological properties. Titanium dioxide is one of the most commonly produced nanoparticles in the world.

Lithopone An Essential Ingredient in Paint Production