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Chapter 11: The supporting cast · Part 4: Opacifiers and pearlisers

Titanium dioxide

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Also called
CI 77891, E171, titania
Found in
cream cleansers, opaque liquids

The worst fact: since 2022 it has been banned from food in the EU. Its food safety authority said in 2021 that "a concern for genotoxicity of TiO2 particles cannot be ruled out" and it could no longer be considered safe as a food additive. The WHO's cancer agency rates it "possibly carcinogenic to humans" (Group 2B), based on rats breathing in the dust.

Why brands use it: a bright, opaque white.

Take care if: you work with the dry powder. The concern is breathing it in; a liquid cleaner doesn't make dust.

Comes from: titanium ore, processed with sulfuric acid or with chlorine.

Myth check: "The EU classes it as a carcinogen": no longer. The EU's 2019 classification of some titanium dioxide powders as suspected of causing cancer if inhaled was annulled by the EU General Court in 2022, and the Court of Justice upheld that on 1 August 2025.

Contaminants: nil.

Fair to say: Australia's food regulator reviewed it and found "no evidence to suggest dietary exposure to food-grade titanium dioxide is a concern for human health", and the WHO's food additive committee reaffirmed it in 2023.

Correct as of November 2026. What the badges mean

Sources

  • NICNAS/AICIS. IMAP Tier II assessments: boric acid and borates; titanium dioxide (2016); octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4); decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5).
  • Food Standards Australia New Zealand. Food Standards Code, Schedule 8 (2025); Food colours; Review of titanium dioxide as a food additive (updated 2025).
  • European Union. Regulation (EC) 1333/2008 Annex V; Regulation (EU) 231/2012 (food additive specifications); Regulation (EU) 2022/63 (E171); Regulation (EU) 1297/2014 (detergent capsules); Regulation (EC) 790/2009 and Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/849 (borates); Regulation (EU) 109/2012; Regulation (EU) 2023/2055 (microplastics); Regulation (EU) 2024/1328 (D4, D5, D6); Regulation (EC) 1223/2009 (cosmetics) Annexes III and IV.
  • Court of Justice of the European Union. Joined Cases C-71/23 P and C-82/23 P, titanium dioxide (1 August 2025).
  • EFSA. Re-evaluations of xanthan gum (E415, 2017, 2023), guar gum (E412, 2017), dimethyl polysiloxane (E900, 2020); titanium dioxide (E171, 2021).
  • JECFA (FAO/WHO). Specifications and evaluations: titanium dioxide (2023), sodium carboxymethylcellulose, polyvinylpyrrolidone, Brilliant Blue FCF, tartrazine, Sunset Yellow FCF, D&C Red 33.
  • IARC. Monographs: styrene (vol. 121), titanium dioxide (vol. 93), amorphous and crystalline silica (vol. 68), ethylene oxide, Brilliant Blue FCF.
  • HSDB (US National Library of Medicine), via PubChem: manufacturing, use and impurity data.

The full source list is at the end of Chapter 11.