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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.

A great number of other brands with fancy names have gone out of the German market, because of some defects in the processes of manufacture. The English exporters, as a rule, offer three or four grades of lithopone, the lowest priced consisting of about 12 per cent zinc sulphide, the best varying between 30 and 32 per cent zinc sulphide. A white pigment of this composition containing more than 32 per cent zinc sulphide does not work well in oil as a paint, although in the oilcloth and shade cloth industries an article containing as high as 45 per cent zinc sulphide has been used apparently with success. Carefully prepared lithopone, containing 30 to 32 per cent sulphide of zinc with not over 1.5 per cent zinc oxide, the balance being barium sulphate, is a white powder almost equal to the best grades of French process zinc oxide in whiteness and holds a medium position in specific gravity between white lead and zinc oxide. Its oil absorption is also fairly well in the middle between the two white pigments mentioned, lead carbonate requiring 9 per cent of oil, zinc oxide on an average 17 per cent and lithopone 13 per cent to form a stiff paste. There is one advantage in the manipulation of lithopone in oil over both white lead and zinc oxide, it is more readily mis-cible than either of these, for some purposes requiring no mill grinding at all, simply thorough mixing with the oil. However, when lithopone has not been furnaced up to the required time, it will require a much greater percentage of oil for grinding and more thinners for spreading than the normal pigment. Pigment of that character is not well adapted for use in the manufacture of paints, as it lacks in body and color resisting properties and does not work well under the brush. In those industries, where the paint can be applied with machinery, as in shade cloth making, etc., it appears to be preferred, because of these very defects. As this sort of lithopone, ground in linseed oil in paste form, is thinned for application to the cloth with benzine only, and on account of its greater tendency to thicken, requires more of this comparatively cheap thinning medium, it is preferred by most of the manufacturers of machine painted shade cloth. Another point considered by them is that it does not require as much coloring matter to tint the white paste to the required standard depth as would be the case if the lithopone were of the standard required for the making of paint or enamels. On the other hand, the lithopone preferred by the shade cloth trade would prove a failure in the manufacture of oil paints and much more so, when used as a pigment in the so-called enamel or varnish paints. Every paint manufacturer knows, or should know, that a pigment containing hygroscopic moisture does not work well with oil and driers in a paint and that with varnish especially it is very susceptible to livering on standing and to becoming puffed to such an extent as to make it unworkable under the brush. While the process of making lithopone is not very difficult or complicated, the success of obtaining a first class product depends to a great extent on the purity of the material used. Foreign substances in these are readily eliminated by careful manipulation, which, however, requires thorough knowledge and great care, as otherwise the result will be a failure, rendering a product of bad color and lack of covering power.

All food businesses currently using titanium dioxide as a food additive have a legal responsibility to comply with the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2022/63, banning the use of titanium dioxide. The FSAI encourages food businesses to source suitable alternatives to titanium dioxide and start the process of reformulation now to ensure compliance in advance of the ban coming into force on 7 August 2022.

1. Enhanced Durability and Performance One of the critical benefits of incorporating titanium dioxide into tire formulations is its ability to improve overall durability. Tires containing TiO2 exhibit increased resistance to wear and tear, which is essential for vehicle performance and safety. Additionally, TiO2 contributes to reduced rolling resistance, which can enhance fuel efficiency in vehicles.

Application of lithopone in rubber and plastics application of lithopone in plastics and pigments lithopone can whiten and improve the compressive strength of products. Lithopone is easy to disperse rapidly, and thus the production process of this product is convenient, especially the molding, injection molding and actual operation process. It is worth mentioning that, with its organic chemical plasticity, it can also be integrated into the vulcanized rubber effect of recycled rubber.

Although barium sulfate is almost completely inert, zinc sulfide degrades upon exposure to UV light, leading to darkening of the pigment. The severity of this UV reaction is dependent on a combination of two factors; how much zinc sulfide makes up the pigments formulation, and its total accumulated UV exposure. Depending on these factors the pigment itself can vary in shade over time, ranging from pure white all the way to grey or even black. To suppress this effect, a dopant may be used, such as a small amount of cobalt salts, which would be added to the formulation. This process creates cobalt-doped zinc sulfide. The cobalt salts help to stabilize zinc sulfide so it will not have as severe a reaction to UV exposure.

Titanium dioxide has similar uses in non-food products. It is used in sunscreen as effective protection against UVA/UVB rays from the sun, which creates a physical barrier between the sun’s rays and the skin. It’s also used to whiten paint, paper, plastic, ink, rubber, and cosmetics.

The California plaintiff is apparently not the only one concerned about titanium dioxide. The European Union recently banned its use citing concerns about serious health consequences.