All Knowledge & Insights By Date

On June 12, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California (District Court) issued an Order granting a preliminary injunction brought by the Personal Care Products Council (PCPC), which alleged that the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment’s (OEHHA) requirement for warnings under Proposition 65 (Prop 65) related to titanium dioxide in cosmetics and personal care products violated the First Amendment. The Personal Care Products Council v. Bonta, No....

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) continues to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its Nanotechnology Research Center (NTRC). NIOSH highlights NTRC activities in the risk assessment of engineered nanomaterials in a June 3, 2024, NIOSH Science blog item entitled “NIOSH Risk Assessment of Engineered Nanomaterials.” The item notes that NTRC risk assessments were used in developing NIOSH recommended exposure limits (REL) for three different classes of nanomaterials...

The European Commission’s (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) began a public consultation on May 27, 2024, on its preliminary opinion on a new coating for titanium dioxide (nano form). According to the preliminary opinion, SCCS concluded that: Comments are due July 22, 2024....

On May 23, 2024, the European Commission’s (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) published a document entitled “Scientific Advice on Titanium dioxide (TiO2).” The document 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 products? A: From the provided information, SCCS notes that the titanium...

On April 29, 2024, the German Environment Agency (UBA) posted an item entitled “ZnO nanoforms – REACH substance evaluation: environmental aspects.” The Federal Office for Chemicals, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), and UBA have been conducting a Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) substance evaluation on the registered nanoforms of zinc oxide since 2017. According to the item, based on the studies submitted by the registrants,...

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...

The European Commission (EC) announced on January 14, 2022, that it adopted a ban on the use of titanium dioxide (E171) as a food additive. The ban will apply after a six-month transition period, and beginning summer 2022, this additive should no longer be added to food products. According to the EC, titanium dioxide “is used to impart white colour to many foods, from baked goods and sandwich spreads to soups, sauces, salad dressing and food supplements.” The...

On December 17, 2021, Canada published the Chemicals Management Plan implementation table for 2021-2024. Under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA), Canada plans to take the following actions regarding nanomaterials on the Domestic Substances List (DSL): prioritization of substances in commerce according to responses to the CEPA Section 71 Survey and screening assessment of high-priority nanomaterials on the DSL. The deliverables include: The rationale for action...

On October 11, 2021, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) announced the release of a scientific guide to assess the risks posed by nanomaterials in food. According to ANSES, engineered nanomaterials are used in the food sector as: The guide provides a risk assessment methodology for engineered nanomaterials used as food additives and ingredients with a nutritional function. ANSES notes that the European Food Safety Authority...

The European Commission (EC) announced on October 8, 2021, that the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed approved the EC’s proposal to ban the use of titanium dioxide (E171) as a food additive. The EC states that its proposal “is based on a scientific opinion by the European Food Safety Authority, which concluded that E171 could no longer be considered as safe when used as a food additive, in particular due to the fact that concerns regarding...

On June 3, 2021, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) published an interview with Aurélie Niaudet, who is in charge of assessing the risks associated with physical agents. Niaudet states that nanomaterials have novel properties that “are highly sought after and increasingly exploited, but can also induce specific types of behaviour when interacting with humans or the environment.” After the human body is exposed, “there is then the question...