Titanium dioxide is in common use as a white pigment in printing inks as well as in paints, wallcoverings and coatings. It is an inert inorganic compound that is also used in many other consumer products, including sunscreens and cosmetics, and plastics.
The newly-published EU delegated regulation classifies the substance as “as a category 2 suspected carcinogen by inhalation under EU Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 on classification, labelling and packaging (CLP) of substances and mixtures”, the BCF stated.
The BCF emphasised that the classification of titanium dioxide was only for the powder form of the substance, “and does not apply to liquid mixtures of paints, coatings or printing inks containing titanium dioxide, or wallpaper”, but said there were concerns about potential knock-on effects for waste legislation and recycling “for both liquid paints and printing inks and also white plastic containing more than one percent of titanium dioxide”.
“This could have a major impact on UK and EU recycling targets. The classification of titanium dioxide also sets a precedent for many other substances with similar properties, of which there are many hundred, and will directly affect powder coatings, which will be classified,” the BCF stated.
BCF chief executive Tom Bowtell said the science behind the new classification did not reflect how the substance was handled by industry.
“The one scientific study behind the classification was based on tests with rats, where respirable titanium dioxide dust was inhaled in excessive quantities, leading to significant impairment of particle clearance mechanisms in the rats’ lungs,” he stated.
“This is an effect that would not happen in human lungs. The effect is not caused by the chemistry of titanium dioxide but by the simple presence of dust particles in excessive quantities in the lungs, causing chronic inflammation of the rats’ lung cells.
“On top of this, the rats were exposed to levels of titanium dioxide approximately 40 times the maximum a factory worker might be exposed to in his or her job, so it is highly unlikely that any production employee handling titanium dioxide powder could ever be exposed to such levels.”
Bowtell also said that in the UK and across the EU regulations already existed to protect workers from dust exposure and it was “unreasonable” to consider that any worker would ever be exposed to such high concentrations.
“Studies over many years have not found any correlation between workers exposed to titanium dioxide, and the risk of lung cancer... For this reason, we believe that the existing occupational dust limits are sufficient to tackle the concern, and we therefore do not agree with this classification under CLP”.
The Titanium Dioxide Manufacturers Association (TDMA) had previously warned about the knock-on effects of such a classification: “As well as the lack of a viable substitute for TiO2, the domino effect of this classification could have catastrophic effects on many industries – from paint to recycling.”
Titanium dioxide is manufactured in 18 plants in the European Economic Area, with the UK the second-largest producer behind Germany, according to the TDMA.
