If you are, or have been a Bob Ross enjoyer you know he always mentions that lovely titanium white, but why is it called titanium white?
Titanium white, or titanium dioxide, is an inorganic compound derived from titanium. In other words, it's kinda like rust. With rust being iron oxide, it is also an inorganic compound derived from iron once that iron reacts with oxygen, usually in the presence of water, titanium on the other hand also reacts with oxygen to create titanium dioxide, but in a much different way (usually with heat) and takes a longer time to occur naturally.
So what's my point that you keep eating this? When Bob takes a nice brush of titanium white to create a beautiful painting, that same pigment is present in many other products you might not have expected including things you eat. Some of the things you use that can contain titanium dioxide include:
Paper, toothpaste, pills and supplements, frosting and icings, sunscreen, chewing gum or even coffee creamer.
Titanium white is used in these products to give it its very rich white color and works great for being bright and opaque, it is relatively non toxic and is far safer than other alternatives like lead white (wouldn't want to be eating that would you?). However, recently France has banned titanium dioxide as an additive in food products and there has been studies to uncover adverse effects it may cause.
The current narrative is that titanium dioxide may be carcinogenic and the accumulation of titanium dioxide in organs is understudied. The FDA still considers it safe in foods at ≤1% by weight, other regulatory authorities such as Health Canada, Food Standards Australia, New Zealand (FSANZ) and others DO NOT consider this a safety risk at its intended level of use. So you should be safe living your life as you were before, but it's good to be mindful of the products you use and consume.
