In 2011, titanium dioxide (airborne and unbound particles of respirable size) was listed under California Prop 65 regulations as a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer. Our scientists designed an exposure assessment study to measure airborne titanium dioxide concentrations during application of a variety of consumer personal care products and cosmetics which contained titanium dioxide as sun blocker or white pigment.
Because existing regulatory limits for titanium dioxide do not apply directly to non-occupational exposures, a risk based approach which considered available toxicological and epidemiological literature was necessary to evaluate the laboratory analytical results in comparison to the State requirement for “no significant risk” at a level of 1 excess cancer in 100,000 individuals exposed over a 70-yr lifetime of product use.
