America Is Ingesting Sunscreen: What You Need to Know About Titanium Dioxide

Titanium dioxide is a popular mineral found in sunscreen, but it’s also used in a wide range of foods — in the United States, at least. While titanium dioxide appears in foods like frozen pizza, coffee creamer, and candy in the U.S., the ingredient is banned in food in the European Union. 

But there’s an increasing level of concern in the U.S. about how titanium dioxide impacts people who eat it. Legislators in California previously tried to ban titanium dioxide from food as part of the California Food Safety Act, but the ingredient didn’t appear in the final approved version of the law. 

In case you’re not familiar with it, titanium dioxide is an odorless powder used to enhance the white color of products. It’s also used in plastics and paint, but those versions of the mineral are different from food-grade titanium dioxide. "It has no nutritional value," says Heidi J. Silver, R.D., Ph.D., a research professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. "It is used to whiten food products."

Titanium dioxide is regulated and approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a color additive, although regulations say the ingredient can’t exceed 1% by weight of the food. The FDA is also currently reviewing a petition filed last year that asks the agency to ban the use of titanium dioxide in food. 

If you’re new to the whole titanium dioxide debate, it’s understandable to have questions. Here’s why this ingredient is so controversial, plus what you can do to mitigate your risk.

Why was titanium dioxide banned in the EU?

Titanium dioxide was banned as a food additive in the European Union in 2022. The ban happened after a safety assessment from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) found data gaps and uncertainties in the use of titanium dioxide in food. The safety assessment didn’t conclude that titanium dioxide is a definite risk to human health, but it also didn’t rule it out as a possibility. The assessment also couldn’t rule out that titanium dioxide can cause DNA or chromosomal damage. 

“A critical element in reaching this conclusion was that EFSA could not exclude genotoxicity concerns after consumption of titanium dioxide particles,” an EFSA spokesperson told Food & Wine. “After oral ingestion, the absorption of titanium dioxide particles is low. However, they can accumulate in the body.”

In the EU, when a food additive’s safety can’t be confirmed, it can be subject to a ban. 

What are the health concerns around titanium dioxide?

There are a few health concerns that have surfaced around the use of titanium dioxide in food. As we mentioned, the EFSA found the ingredient unsafe, and the organization specifically noted that there were uncertainties around the mineral causing bodily inflammation and neurotoxicity.

Inflammation has been linked to a range of serious health conditions like heart disease, cancer, and autoimmune disease, while neurotoxicity can cause changes in how the nervous system works. 

“The concern is that when titanium dioxide is ingested — especially in the nanoparticle form — it can enter our cells and generate radicals to cause disruption to the cell, which then can become cancerous,” says Keith Warriner, Ph.D., a researcher and professor in the Department of Food Science at the University of Guelph.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) also calls titanium dioxide a Group 2B carcinogen, which means it may cause cancer, but there isn’t enough animal or human research at this point. “To put that in perspective, this is the same group as mobile-phone devices,” says Warriner.

However, titanium dioxide “does appear to have a role in producing reactive oxygen species, inflammation, and possibly DNA damage and carcinogenesis,” says Silver. “These effects have been shown in rodent studies — not human studies — when toxicity such as lung tumors and thyroid tumors have developed, but the concentration of titanium dioxide provided in rodent studies is quite high compared to the particle sizes in foods.” As a result, Silver says, “the biological and cellular effects on humans are not completely known.”

Still, Joe Zagorski, Ph.D., a toxicologist for the Center of Research on Ingredient Safety at Michigan State University, says he’s not overly worried about the risk of eating titanium dioxide. “When consumed within regulated limits, I have no concern with the use or consumption of food-grade titanium dioxide,” he says. 

What can you do to lower your exposure to titanium dioxide?

It’s important to note that titanium dioxide is used less commonly in food now than in the past. “Companies have been taking it out [of their products] for years to meet clean labeling guidelines,” says Scott Keatley, R.D., co-founder of Keatley Medical Nutrition Therapy. 

If you’re concerned about titanium dioxide in your food, Warriner says it’s important to read labels carefully, although you may need to read between the lines. “It may be listed as an ingredient on food labels, or as ‘artificial color’ or ‘color added’ on candy, cookies, and other foods,” says Liora Fiksel, MPH, project manager, Healthy Communities the Environmental Defense Fund.

Zagorski also suggests mixing up your diet. “Individuals who vary the foods and beverages in their diet limit the consumption of any single ingredient,” he says.