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On December 5, 2023, the European Commission’s (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) began a public consultation on its preliminary opinion on titanium dioxide. Comments on the preliminary opinion are due February 6, 2024. The preliminary opinion includes the following questions from the EC and SCCS’s conclusions: Q: In light of the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) opinion on genotoxicity concerns for E171, does SCCS consider titanium dioxide safe in oral cosmetic...

The European Commission’s (EC) Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) announced the release of its final opinion on the safety of titanium dioxide in toys on June 27, 2023. Following the mandate from the EC, the scientific opinion evaluates whether the uses of pigmentary titanium dioxide in toys and toy materials can be considered to be safe in light of the exposure identified and in light of the classification of titanium dioxide...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on May 3, 2023, that it has filed a color additive petition (CAP 3C0325), submitted by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the Center for Environmental Health (CEH), the Center for Food Safety (CFS), the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), and the Environmental Working Group (EWG). 88 Fed. Reg. 27818. The petition proposes that FDA repeal the color additive regulation for titanium dioxide in 21 C.F.R....

On February 14, 2023, the European Commission (EC) appealed the November 23, 2022, decision of the European General Court that annuls the 2019 harmonized classification and labeling of titanium dioxide as a carcinogenic substance by inhalation in certain powder forms. As reported in our December 6, 2022, memorandum, the court concluded that the EC “made a manifest error in its assessment of the reliability and acceptability of the study on which the classification was based and,...

According to a February 13, 2023, press release issued by France’s Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion and Ministry of Energy Transition, France is appealing the November 23, 2022, decision of the European General Court that annuls the 2019 harmonized classification and labeling of titanium dioxide as a carcinogenic substance by inhalation in certain powder forms. As reported in our December 6, 2022, memorandum, the court concluded that the European...

As reported in our October 19, 2021, blog item, in 2021, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) released a scientific guide to assess the risks posed by nanomaterials in food. On December 16, 2022, ANSES announced that the methodology has been “tested” on the food additive E171, titanium dioxide. ANSES states that the test has “confirmed the relevance of [its] methodology and the need for a nanospecific approach.” According to...

.The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published for comment a draft study report entitled “Applicability of the key event based TG 442D for in vitro skin sensitisation testing of nanomaterials.” Switzerland conducted experimental work with selected nanomaterials using OECD Test Guideline (TG) 442D (KeratinoSensTM) and made a basic in vitro to in vivo correlation to outline the potential relevance of the results for prediction of skin sensitisation of...

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) released on August 9, 2022, a report entitled Review of Fate, Exposure, and Effects of Sunscreens in Aquatic Environments and Implications for Sunscreen Usage and Human Health. NASEM was tasked by Congress and funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to undertake a consensus study of the potential risk of ultraviolet (UV) filters on already threatened aquatic environments and the potential...

On July 29, 2022, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a Technical Report: Occupational Exposure Sampling for Engineered Nanomaterials. Since 2010, NIOSH has developed guidance for workplace sampling for three engineered nanomaterials: carbon nanotubes (CNT) and nanofiber (CNF), silver, and titanium dioxide, each of which has an elemental mass-based NIOSH recommended exposure limit (REL). NIOSH has also developed a practical approach to...

The Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) announced on June 22, 2022, that the European Commission (EC) asked that it reassess the safety of titanium dioxide with a focus on genotoxicity and exposure via the inhalation and oral route (lip care, lipstick, toothpaste, loose powder, hair spray) “since the currently available scientific evidence supports an overall lack of dermal absorption” of titanium dioxide particles. The request notes that titanium dioxide is authorized...