One of the main challenges that manufacturers face when it comes to buff percentage is ensuring consistency. Variations in the level of coating on titanium dioxide particles can lead to differences in color, opacity, and other properties in the final product. This can be especially problematic in industries such as paint and coatings, where consistency is critical for achieving the desired results.

Now imagine the delicate skin on your face, on your children’s arms & legs. Each day un-knowingly, thinking we are doing the right thing, we slather them up with titanium dioxide in the form of sunscreen & send them out into the sun, all the while never knowing that once exposed to light titanium dioxide creates free radicals that are strong enough to damage steel roofing panels!!

Titanium dioxide helps protect the skin from both UVA and UVB rays. Plus, it’s generally considered to be safe for sensitive skin types. Not only that, but it might also make for sunscreens that are more suitable for children and infants since it’s much less likely to cause stinging compared to chemical sunscreens. And when used in foundations, titanium dioxide can even provide a little extra sun protection on top of your daily SPF.

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.”

What's the Verdict?

Not lower 5%

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.

Price Dynamics. The Titanium Dioxide price in United States decreased during December 2018 to 2,770 USD per metric ton, which represents a decline of 7% compared to the previous month’s value. On a year-over-year basis, Titanium Dioxide prices in United States remained constant . Meanwhile, in Germany, the average price of Titanium Dioxide amounted to 3,720 USD per metric ton, from 3,460 USD per metric ton one year earlier. On a month-over-month basis, the Titanium Dioxide price in Germany is 11% higher than the price one month before.

Both P25TiO₂NPs (with or without vitamin B2) were not found beyond the epidermis in 99% of the analyzed TEM images (Fig. 8). This is coherent with previous findings showing that nanoparticles greater than 50 nm can not penetrate the skin, even in vivo models with movement, stretching, and friction [54]. However, in one of the zones, a few nanoparticles were observed inside a hair follicle. This could be due to the follicle exposure after the localized rupture of this physical barrier when rats were shaved in order to clean the area for cream topical administration. This finding suggests that nanoparticle-based sunscreen should not be applied on recently shaved or harmed skin, in order to avoid nanoparticle skin penetration.