The concern from animal studies is that high amounts of titanium dioxide have increased inflammation and colon tumor formation, said Dr. Johnson-Arbor. A 2021 review, meanwhile, suggested that using titanium dioxide as a food additive weakens the gut lining and worsens the progression of inflammatory bowel disease.

After conducting a review of all the relevant available scientific evidence, EFSA concluded that a concern for genotoxicity of TiO₂ particles cannot be ruled out. Based on this concern, EFSA’s experts no longer consider titanium dioxide safe when used as a food additive. This means that an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI ) cannot be established for E171.

5. Is EFSA banning titanium dioxide? 

The FDA has not updated its general guidance on safety assessments since 2007. Within that time, there has been a significant increase in research on the confluence of toxicology, nanotechnology and human health. The EU updates its guidance regularly with new science available to offer proper safety assessments, with its most recent update published in 2021.

Hiding power

However, the use of titanium dioxide has also raised concerns about its potential impact on human health and the environment. Some studies have suggested that titanium dioxide nanoparticles may have harmful effects when inhaled or ingested. Manufacturers of titanium dioxide are therefore taking steps to minimize the risk of exposure and develop safer products.

When choosing lithopone, you must choose a good brand and pay attention to its production date. Some people just don’t pay attention to this aspect and often pursue cheap prices. As a result, they buy products that are close to their expiration date and have not been stored for long. It is no longer usable. This is very important.

When it comes to sourcing titanium dioxide, it is essential to understand the various processes involved in its production. The two primary production methods are the sulfate process and the chloride process. The sulfate process tends to be more cost-effective in certain contexts, but it also generates a substantial amount of waste, putting pressure on manufacturers to invest in waste treatment technologies. On the other hand, the chloride process is known for its superior quality and lower environmental impact, albeit at a higher production cost.

Overall, buff percentage is a critical factor that manufacturers of titanium dioxide must carefully manage to ensure the quality, consistency, and cost-effectiveness of their products. By investing in advanced technology and processes to control buff percentage, manufacturers can meet the specific requirements of their customers and maintain a competitive edge in the market. As the demand for titanium dioxide continues to grow across various industries, manufacturers must continue to innovate and improve their processes to meet the evolving needs of their customers.

Molecular weight: 412.23

This precipitate is not suitable for a pigment until it is filtered, dried, crushed, heated to a high temperature, and quenched in cold water. The second heating in a muffle furnace at 725 C produces crystals of the right optical size.

2. Lithopone is widely used in the plastic industry.

From a stability standpoint, lithopone, a fusion of zinc sulfide and artificially precipitated barite, is non-toxic and exhibits resilience to mild lyes and acids. However, it is incompatible with colors containing copper. Despite its strong covering power in oil, lithopone’s drying capabilities are notably limited, posing potential issues for artists. Notably, early experimentation with lithopone-based grounds instead of zinc white resulted in undesirable darkening, although this blackness receded upon drying. This unpredictable behavior has sparked debate among scientific communities, emphasizing the need for further exploration and understanding of this pigment.

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.

History

Lithopone B311