The European Commission banned titanium dioxide as a food additive in the EU in 2022 after the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) conducted an updated safety assessment of E171 and concluded the panel could not eliminate concerns about its genotoxicity. 

TiO₂ is also used in oral pharmaceutical formulations, and the Pharmaceutical Excipients handbook considers nano-sized TiO₂ a non-irritant and non-toxic excipient. Despite the fact that TiO₂ submicron- and nano-sized particles are widely used as food and pharmaceutical additives, information on their toxicity and distribution upon oral exposure is very limited.

After oral ingestion, the absorption of titanium dioxide particles is low, however they can accumulate in the body, Maged Younes, chair of the European Food Safety Authority's expert Panel on Food Additives and Flavourings, said in a May 2021 statement.

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is a naturally occurring mineral that is mined from the earth, processed and refined, and added to a variety of foods, as well as other consumer products. White in color, it is used to enhance the color and sheen of certain foods and is also key for food safety applications. In its natural state it exists in different bulk crystalline forms, such as anatase and rutile, but during processing it is ground into a very fine powder.

The natural barite containing more than 95% of barium sulfate is mixed with anthracite in a ratio of 3:1 (mass), and is pulverized to a diameter of about 2 cm or less to enter a reduction furnace, and the front stage of the furnace temperature is controlled by 1000 to 1200 ° C, and the latter stage is 500 to 600 ° C, the reduction furnace rotates at a speed of 80s per revolution, the reaction conversion rate is 80% to 90%, the obtained barium sulfide enters the leaching device, the control temperature is above 65 ° C, and the content of barium sulfide is 701%, and then enters the clarification. The barrel is clarified and then added with zinc sulfate to control the zinc sulfate content to be greater than 28%, and the pH is 8-9, and a mixture of barium sulfate and zinc sulfide having a density of

In the application of lithopone in ink industry, lithopone has fine particles, loose structure, good fineness and good paint adhesion, so it can be well combined with other colors in the composition of ink.

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