The authority did not identify a safe amount of titanium dioxide that could be consumed.
Furthermore, the use of titanium dioxide in rubber helps to reduce the environmental impact of rubber manufacturing processes. As a non-toxic and environmentally friendly material, titanium dioxide is safe for use in rubber products that come into contact with food, water, or other sensitive materials. This makes it an attractive choice for manufacturers looking to produce eco-friendly and sustainable rubber goods.


What’s recently changed with titanium dioxide and regulations?
The agency makes this exception for several approved color additives.
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Overall, the Food Directorate's comprehensive review of the available science of TiO2 as a food additive showed:
Infrared spectra were performed (from 400 to 4000 cm−1) in vitamins@P25TiO2NPs samples and the vitamins alone as controls, employing a Nicolet AVATAR 360 Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer.




It's hard to determine the total amount of food products that have titanium dioxide because federal regulations don't require all producers to list its use on ingredient labels, but the list of foods containing the substance certainly doesn't end with Skittles.
Nano-sized TiO2 generally shows low or no acute toxicity in both invertebrates and vertebrates. However, exposure of Daphnia magna to 20 ppm TiO2 for 8 consecutive days was found to cause 40 % mortality. Zhu et al. showed minimal toxicity to D. magna after 48 h exposure, while upon chronic exposure for 21 days, D. magna suffered severe growth retardation and mortality. A significant amount of nano-sized TiO2 was found also accumulated in the body of the animals. Similar findings with coated nano-sized TiO2 (T-Lite™ SF, T-Lite™ SF-S and T-Lite™ MAX; BASF SE) were reported by Wiench et al. Biochemical measurements showed that exposure to TiO2 NPs induces significant concentration-dependent antioxidant enzyme activities in D. magna. Lee et al. showed that 7 and 20 nm-sized TiO2 induced no genotoxic effect in D. magna and in the larva of the aquatic midge Chironomus riparius.
3. What is EFSA saying in its 2021 opinion on the safety of titanium dioxide as a food additive?
