Some websites maintain titanium dioxide is inferior to zinc oxide, another mineral sunscreen ingredient whose core characteristics are similar to those of titanium dioxide. The reality is that titanium dioxide is a great broad-spectrum SPF ingredient and is widely used in all manner of sun-protection products. What gets confusing for some consumers is trying to decipher research that ranks sunscreen ingredients by a UV spectrum graph. By most standards, broad-spectrum coverage for sunscreen ingredients is defined as one that surpasses 360 nanometers (abbreviated as “nm” - how the sun’s rays are measured). Titanium dioxide exceeds this range of protection, but depending on whose research you read, it either performs as well as or slightly below zinc oxide.


In 2022, a year after the EFSA recommended against the use of E171, the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) conducted its own reassessment of titanium dioxide as a food additive. The agency concluded that titanium dioxide was indeed safe to use as a food additive. The United Kingdom and Canada came to similar conclusions.
CSPI’s Chemical Cuisine is the web’s definitive rating of the chemicals used to preserve foods and affect their taste, texture, or appearance. Besides titanium dioxide, the group recommends avoiding artificial sweeteners like aspartame, acesulfame potassium, and sucralose, as well as synthetic food dyes like Yellow 5 and Red 3. CSPI and others have recently asked the Food and Drug Administration to ban the latter dye in foods and ingested drugs because the FDA has already determined that it is a carcinogen unsafe for use in cosmetics.
Sulphate process. The ilmenite is reacted with sulphuric acid giving titanium sulphate and ferric oxide. After separation of ferric oxide, addition of alkali allows precipitation of hydrous titanium dioxide. The washed precipitate is calcined in a rotary kiln to render titanium dioxide. The nucleation and calcination conditions determine the crystalline structure of titanium dioxide (e.g. rutile or anatase).
Rutile titanium dioxide is known for its exceptional whiteness, high refractive index, and excellent durability under UV light. It is produced using various methods, but MBR9668 stands out due to its superior microstructure and unique surface treatment, which provide enhanced dispersion and stability in coatings. This makes it ideal for use in applications where long-lasting brightness and resistance to chalking and fading are crucial.

Understanding the Wholesale Lithopone Pigment Pricelist
Conclusions
In a 2021, Chinese researchers examined the impact of E171 on lipid digestion and vitamin D3 bioaccessibility in a simulated human gastrointestinal tract model. They examined Vitamin D’s bioaccessibility, or the amount it was released in the gastrointestinal tract, becoming available for absorption, and found it “significantly decreased from 80% to 74%” with the addition of E171. In the experiment, E171 decreased lipid digestion dose-dependently. Researchers wrote: “The findings of this study enhance our understanding toward the potential impact of E171 on the nutritional attributes of foods for human digestion health.” The study was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry,
Titanium dioxide prices in India reached 3424 USD /MT and 3001 USD /MT for Rutile and Anatase grades during the last week of June.
In summary, although more human evidence is needed to determine the risks of the mineral, potential titanium dioxide side effects from excessive exposure (especially when inhaled) may include: