What are the main health hazards associated with breathing in titanium dioxide?
High concentrations of titanium dioxide dust may cause coughing and mild, temporary irritation. Long-term inhalation of high concentrations of pigmentary (powdered) or ultrafine titanium dioxide may cause lung cancer, based on animal evidence. See “Will titanium dioxide cause cancer?” below for more information. What happens when titanium dioxide comes into contact with my skin? Titanium dioxide is a very mild irritant or non-irritant based on human and animal information. Application of 0.1 mg titanium dioxide powder in a non-occlusive chamber, once daily for 3 days to intact or damaged skin, produced almost no irritation (scored 0-0.4/4) in 5 volunteers. Studies using sunscreen applications on volunteers showed that titanium dioxide particles only penetrate the outermost layers of skin. Can titanium dioxide hurt my eyes? Titanium dioxide is a very mild irritant or non-irritant based on animal information. There may be slight irritancy as a “foreign object”, based on its physical and
