We've used titanium dioxide safely for decades. However, recently its safety was called into question.
At CRIS, we've explored the safety of titanium dioxide for nearly half a decade, including conducting double-blind research to test the safety of food-grade titanium dioxide (E171). Our study shows that when exposed to food-grade titanium dioxide in normal conditions, research animals did not experience adverse health outcomes.
It's important to emphasize that in a National Institutes of Health study, experimental animals were exposed to titanium dioxide in amounts as high as 5% of their diet for a lifetime and showed no evidence of adverse effects.
A handful of studies greatly influenced the decisions made by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Unfortunately, these studies did not consider that titanium dioxide exposure comes from food, not drinking water. Additionally, CRIS researchers could not reproduce the adverse outcomes identified by the studies through typical food ingestion. Regardless, the EFSA banned E171 as a food ingredient and for use in other capacities in the summer of 2022.
In 2022, the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada maintained that the scientific evidence supports that titanium dioxide (E171) is safe for humans to use and consume.
In a review published in 2022 in the journal Archives of Toxicology, researchers found that the ingestion of E171 is a “a definite health risk for consumers and their progeny.” After reviewing dozens of in vivo, ex vivo and in vitro studies on the toxicity of E171, the researchers wrote that two facts must be noted: “First, reprotoxicity studies show that animals of both sexes are impacted by the toxicity of these nanoparticles, underlining the importance of conducting in vivo studies using both male and female animals. Second, human exposure begins in utero via maternal-fetal transfer and continues after birth by breastfeeding. Children are then chronically re-exposed due to their food preferences. To be relevant to the human in vivo situation, experimental studies should therefore consider nanoparticle exposure with respect to the age or life period of the studied population.”
The raw material used in this method is FeSO4. In order to maintain the Fe3 + concentration in the reaction medium in a specific range, reducing agent iron sheet is added in the reaction process. Iron yellow crystal seed was added and air was introduced to synthesize iron yellow under certain pH conditions. The method mainly includes two steps: (1) firstly, FeSO4 · 7H2O is used as raw material, NaOH or NH3 · H2O is used as precipitant or pH regulator, and air is used as oxidant to prepare crystal seed; (2) Iron yellow is produced by two-step oxidation with crystal seed, FeSO4, iron sheet and air.
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