(by Nicola Simonetti) In France, the precautionary suspension of titanium dioxide, an additive (coloring) abundantly used in sugared almonds, sweets, ice creams, various bonbons, ready meals, chewing gum, medicines, awaits the start of the Minister of Economy who prefers postpone and wait ("considering that controversial assessments have taken place, it will not, for now, be suspended"), without making the safeguard clause operational with regard to Brussels, to implement the law approved by Parliament in November 2018 which provides for the suspension of use of the food additive, as such and in nano particles.
The Minister reiterates that the decision belongs to Ce.
Titanium dioxide (or titanium dioxide or titanium dioxide or E171 or TiO2 or titanium white), a chemical compound which comes in the form of a colorless crystalline powder, tending towards white; has TiO chemical formula.
It is used, especially in paints, plastics, building cement, cosmetics, sunscreens (it is debated on the penetration, through the healthy skin, of the used powders, in the bloodstream and it is hypothesized their persistence in the organism with risk of provoking inflammations potentially generating tumors).
The nanoparticles (smaller than 100 nanometers and therefore easier to penetrate the body) are used to give a bright and smooth white appearance to pastries and confectionery (especially sweets, bonbons, generally intended for children) or to opaque yoghurt and ice cream. We talk about caused nanopathologies and discuss the possible carcinogenicity. The professor. Nemmar (Catholic University of Leuven showed that "particles from 100 nanometers, if breathed, pass the lung barrier into 60 seconds and in an hour reach the liver.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified titanium dioxide in 2B class as a possible carcinogen if inhaled by humans.
The 2 Category includes "substances that should be considered carcinogenic to humans. There are sufficient elements to believe that human exposure to a substance is likely to cause the development of tumors, in general on the basis of: adequate long-term studies carried out on animals; other specific information ".
The 2B subgroup - 'Human carcinogenic suspects' includes' substances with limited evidence for humans in the absence of sufficient evidence for animals or for those with sufficient evidence for animals and inadequate evidence or lack of data for humans. In some cases substances with only limited evidence for animals can be included in this group as long as this is firmly supported by other relevant data ".
In France it is discussed starting from the results of an animal study published in January 2017 on "Scientific Reports", which links the repeated ingestion of E171 with the "provocation of early stages of carcinogenesis" (precancerous colon lesions). On this basis, the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Stéphane Travert, had proposed a ban on food use. The parliament had decided to suspend from the 2019. But the Inra (Institut national de la recherche agronomique), in the 2017, had observed that "the results of the survey to which it refers are not directly applicable in man". The French Agency for Food Health Safety (Anses) considered that further studies were necessary, while the National Institute for Research of Agronomy (INRA) derived from four studies that titanium dioxide "is not a health risk". The European Commission called for a new evaluation based, especially on the size of nanoparticles.
The secretary of state for ecology, in May 2018 announced the suspension (not the definitive prohibition that belongs to the EU).
The law on nutrition promulgated in November resumed the provision but this can not be applied without the support of a decree of the Minister of Economy who recently reiterated that the risk to the consumer there is, at present, uniqueness of views between researchers.
The study had precancerous colon lesions in 40% of the animals involved in the test after one hundred days. However, the Inra stated, at present the results of the study are not directly applicable to humans.
France prohibited the use of the titanium dioxide coloring additive (E171) for the security concerns raised in recent years.
In the following month of April, the French Agency for Health Food Safety (Anses) published its opinion on the safety of E171, stating that "necessary studies for a perfect characterization of potential health effects related to ingestion". The Anses opinion was requested by the French Government's Economy, Health and Agriculture ministers after the study of Wrath.
EFSA reiterated that "Titanium dioxide as a food dye does not pose a health hazard because its oral absorption is very low. There is no evidence that it increases the risk of tumors or that it is harmful to the fetus, as there seems to be no general indication of its toxicity. For this reason, even if at present it is not possible to indicate limit doses, it is to be considered safe. With the hope that good quality studies will be carried out that will allow to define every aspect, including any effect on the reproductive system and, in the end, to establish the maximum recommended dosages for human consumption ".
The French Minister, in turn, asked Anses to "speed up work on the risks associated with the titanium dioxide food use", the conclusions of which are expected for the third quarter of the 2019. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and consumer advocates do not like the ministerial recommendation (Bruno La Maire) made to the producers to "refrain from using the product" and claim the "ban".
The "precautionary principle" for consumer protection is called into question and invoked ". This policy is used in Italy.
Many producers responded to the invitation and, for example, the Mars group, last December, has allocated 70 million euros to eliminate titanium dioxide from food products in its Alsatian factory from the second half of 2019.
Cosmetics using the E171 additive are not covered by the law.
The Italian Confindustria, in March 2017, announces that "it considers the classification proposal of the
TiO2 as a carcinogen of the 1B category unjustified and inappropriate for the following reasons: Safe use for many decades, weak "weight of evidence". The classification proposal is essentially based on studies carried out on rats exposed to extremely high concentrations of TiO2 powders, which led to the so-called "overload" effects.
pulmonary".
All the guidelines of ECHA, OECD and the ECETOC report unanimously observe that the results of studies with "lung overload" in rats do not
they must be transposed to human beings for different reasons. Therefore, the classification is neither justified nor opportune from the toxicological point of view.
Necessary intrinsic property of the substance. To identify carcinogens, CLP requires intrinsic data, as foreseen in Annex I, and this is also in line with the objective of the harmonized classification and labeling system for chemicals (GHS).
In its dossier, the French MSCA, states as its own conclusion, that the potential risk to inhalation health of TiO2 is related to dustiness
of the substance. This is obviously not an intrinsic property. Therefore, a harmonized classification would not be the right measure to manage the substance ... TiO2 is used safely and the large amount of data on TiO2 shows that it does not present a cancer risk to humans via any route of exposure and that it does not the classification criteria for carcinogenicity are met.
The proposal of the French MSCA for classification and labeling would cause the disappearance of the production in the European market of many
indispensable and useful products, which pose no risk to consumers or the environment, while not ensuring fair treatment between the European market and extra countries. To date, there are no valid alternatives with the same performance, which is why the consequences in the supply chain would be dramatic ... ".
But "the ways of the Lord are infinite". And one of these, for titanium dioxide, is represented by the results of a geoengineering research: scattering titanium dioxide particles into the air could help reduce global warming. A project was born
formulated by the English consulting firm Davidson Technology also on the basis that the environmental risks related to the dispersion of titanium in the atmosphere would be minimal.