Safety of titanium dioxide ?
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free skin care · Wed Aug 15, 2007 6:55 pm

Hi iaimei!

I do not think that there is a definite yes or no answer as to whether titanium dioxide is safe. I mentioned in the other thread that I am sitll looking into the safety of these micronized sunscreen ingredients and that is true but of course I have reached some provisonal conclusions about this.

It seems to me that the bulk of the evidence points towards titanium dioxide being safe. If you want a long document to read that references all sorts of studies check the following.

This is the Australian governments assesment of the safety of micronized titanium dioxide (as well as zinc oxide). There is alot more information available on this topic but I just put this out since it is so well pulled together and has references to so many different studies.

http://www.tga.gov.au/npmeds/sunscreen-zotd.htm

And this is the evidence that they use to support their conclusion.

http://www.tga.gov.au/npmeds/sunscreen-zotd.pdf

My take is that titanium dioxide (particularly the uncoated varieties) does create free radicals which could theoretically cause damage. But as the Australian govenment states (as well as other sources) this is really only a concern if these ingredients penetrate the skin. So essentially if these particles do not penetrate the skin they should not cause a problem. While part of me does not like the idea of having free radicals on my skin I think that this argument makes sense. Although I would like to do a little more research just to make sure that having free radicals on the surface of the skin is of no concern.

I also am not totally convinced that the tiniest versions of these particles (20-30nm) do not penetrate the skin but in all honestly the evidence seems to indicate that they do not. So my position on this is probably overly cautious.

I really think that we need to decide for ourselves where we stand on the issue. The evidence is out there. So are the scare tactics of some organizations/companies with a preconceived notion about product ingredients that I believe interferes with their ability to objectively analyze the evidence.

BTW I believe that your quote above is from UVNaturals and I have to admit that their analysis in not too bad despite the fact that they do have a natural ingredient bias. Speaking of bias, thanks for bringing up EWG ginnilizz! I have not taken a look at their site in a while and in the past did have some objections to their meathodology. You make a good point that if EWG with all their biases doesn't seem to be too concerned then maybe it is not that big a deal!

I try to not make blanket statements about whether something is safe or not. I realize that several of us can look at the evidence and depending on our comfort level decide to avoid titanium dioxide or to use it. Yet it seems to me that the more I research this the more inclined I am to agree that titanium dioxide (including the super small particle sized variety) is safe.

In practice I do not shun titanium dioxide. I will use sunscreens that contain it. I think that it is prudent to try to not use products that contain un-coated titanium dioxide since coating it helps reduce it's ability to generate free radicals. Then there is the Optisol product that I mentioned in another thread which seems to be even safer when it comes to the issue of generating free radicals.

Yet there is a part of me that winces ever so slightly when I think about using titanium dioxide. I guess I prefer not to use it or to only use products that contain small amounts of it. If an alternative is available I tend to gravitate towards that in place of titanium dioxide. I guess that part of this has to do with the fact that I do not think titanium dioxide is that great at blocking UVA wavelengths and part of it does have to do with vague safety concerns.

So there you have it. Rational mind-probably safe. Intuitive mind-a little hesitant. I have a feeling that the only way to resolve my two different minds on this is to do more research. Laughing

ginnielizz-I appreciate you post and links. All of what I said above does not even address the issue of inhaling these products but only addresses applying them topically. I do not currently use any products that contain titanium dioxide which might be inhaled so I have never looked into this area. It sounds like that is a whole other area to research!

free skin care · Thu Aug 16, 2007 5:28 pm

Hi iamei, wow, that is a loaded question! I know lots of people on EDS are fans, so I don't want to be too controversial, but I'll tell you why I personally don't like them. Certain types of petrochemicals, like mineral oil/petrolatum and parrafin wax, form a virtually impenetrable barrier to the skin when applied topically. Some people think this is good for moisture, but I believe it actually seals moisture OUT of your skin, in addition to totally blocking and clogging your pores. I personally tend to break out like crazy if I use anything that contains mineral oil, even glosses/lipsticks/lip liners - I get blackheads all around my lips from them. People who aren't breakout prone might not experience this reaction, but I still think the moisture-barrier concern is valid and will lead to dehydration over time.

Furthermore, petrochemicals in general are just a scary substance, in my opinion - these are all byproducts of the oil refining industry, so it's basically the sludge that comes along with the toxic petroleum we use to fuel our cars, etc. And other petrochemical compounds like propylene glycol are used in products like antifreeze, etc. - they're really quite harsh and not at all natural, in my opinion. Ingredients like PG I don't actually know that much about, I just know enough to want to avoid them (and there are so many really good natural product lines out there that I've never felt the need to question that decision).

So I hope this clarifies things a bit! Again, there are tons of people who swear by Vaseline or certain products that contain petrochemicals, but I'm just very much on the hippie end of the spectrum when it comes to what I will and won't put on or in my body. I just wish that my eating habits were half as disciplined as my skincare habits! Laughing

Feel free to PM me if you have questions, and I'm sure other EDS users can chime in about petrochemicals too. And keep in mind that they can go by masking names: Vaseline, petroleum jelly, petrolatum, mineral oil, baby oil... these are all pretty much the same thing, FYI.

Hope all this helps!

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