EFSA’s scientific advice will be used by risk managers (the European Commission, Member States) to inform any decisions they take on possible regulatory actions.

In the manufacturing industry, sometimes many products require coloring, and the ideal coloring material is lithopone. This is a product manufactured through chemical methods. It is a mixture of barium sulfate and zinc sulfide. When the product contains more zinc sulfide, its effect will be better, that is, the coloring ability will be more stable. If you want to buy high-quality lithopone, you have to understand its properties and characteristics. Today’s article will give you a detailed understanding of lithopone.

Because of health risks, France banned titanium dioxide as a food additive in 2020. Two years later the European Union also banned titanium dioxide as a food additive. 

Suppliers of lithopone have recognized the growing need for high-quality, reliable products that meet both industry standards and consumer preferences. They have invested in advanced production techniques and stringent quality control measures to ensure that their lithopone products deliver consistent performance. This commitment to quality allows paint formulators to achieve the desired properties in their final products, such as enhanced durability, improved hiding power, and superior color stability over time.

Lithopone is rather nontoxic, due to the insolubility of its components. It has been used in medicine as a radiocontrast agent. Lithopone is allowed to be in contact with foodstuffs in the US and Europe.^[1]

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.”

Neutral White, 26 per cent zinc sulphide, 66 per cent barium sulphate, 5 per cent infusorial earth, 3 per cent whiting.

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 (TiO₂) is a multifunctional semiconductor that exists in three crystalline forms: anatase, rutile, and brookite. Owing to an appropriate combination of physical and chemical properties, environmental compatibility, and low production cost, polycrystalline TiO₂ has found a large variety of applications and is considered to be a promising material for future technologies. One of the most distinctive physical properties of this material is its high photocatalytic activity (Nam et al., 2019); however, more recently it has attracted growing interest because of its resistive switching abilities (Yang et al., 2008).

Titanium dioxide, or TiO2, sometimes referred to as E171, is an inorganic, solid substance used in a wide range of consumer goods including cosmetics, paint, plastic and food, according to the American Chemistry Council.

In addition to Skittles, other candies that contain titanium dioxide include Nice! mints, Trolli sour gummies and Ring Pops, according to Environmental Working Group. 

Nanoparticles

Food additive nanoparticles could negatively affect your gut health, by Jillian McCarthy, Binghamton University, May 4, 2023