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Determination of titanium dioxide nanoparticles used in various foods

May 2020 · Food Additives and Contaminants: Part B Surveillance 13(2):1-8

DOI:10.1080/19393210.2020.1769193

Authors:

Şana Sungur Pınar Kaya Muaz Köroğlu

Mustafa Kemal University

Citations (24) References (27) Figures (2)

Abstract and Figures

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is commonly used in foods with code E171. There is information on the food packaging that it contains
E171 in the ingredients section. However, there is no information on the amount of E171 used as ingredient. Therefore,
determination of TiO2 content of foods is extremely important for human health. In this study, confectionary foods, chewing
gums, chocolates and white colored foods were investigated. TiO2 levels of investigated foods were determined by inductively
coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The average titanium dioxide concentrations were found ranging
from 3 to 2400 mg kg⁻¹. The size of TiO2 particles in the foods samples was determined with transmission electron microscopy
(TEM). Titanium dioxide nanoparticles in the studied foods were found to vary in size from 30 to 410 nm.

The average diameters (Continued).

and TEM images of Ti…

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Food Additives & Contaminants: Part B

Surveillance

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Determination of titanium dioxide nanoparticles

used in various foods

Şana Sungur, Pınar Kaya & Muaz Koroglu

To cite this article: Şana Sungur, Pınar Kaya & Muaz Koroglu (2020) Determination of titanium
dioxide nanoparticles used in various foods, Food Additives & Contaminants: Part B, 13:4, 260-267,
DOI: 10.1080/19393210.2020.1769193

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FOOD ADDITIVES & CONTAMINANTS: PART B

2020, VOL. 13, NO. 4, 260–267
https://doi.org/10.1080/19393210.2020.1769193

Determination of titanium dioxide nanoparticles used in various foods

Şana Sungur , Pınar Kaya and Muaz Koroglu
Science and Letters Faculty, Department of Chemistry, Mustafa Kemal University, Hatay, Turkey

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is commonly used in foods with code E171. There is information on the food Received 16 March 2020
packaging that it contains E171 in the ingredients section. However, there is no information on the Accepted 9 May 2020
amount of E171 used as ingredient. Therefore, determination of TiO2 content of foods is extremely KEYWORDS
important for human health. In this study, confectionary foods, chewing gums, chocolates and white Titanium dioxide (TiO2);
colored foods were investigated. TiO2 levels of investigated foods were determined by inductively nanoparticles; food; ICP-OES;
coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The average titanium dioxide concentrations TEM
were found ranging from 3 to 2400 mg kg-1. The size of TiO2 particles in the foods samples was
determined with transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Titanium dioxide nanoparticles in the studied
foods were found to vary in size from 30 to 410 nm.

Introduction of nanoparticles play a very important role in toxicity (Neal

et al. 2011). Generally, the risk of asthma occurring as a
Titanium dioxide (TiO 2) is a white metal oxide commonly
result of inhalation via respiratory tract is emphasised, but
used as a food additive (E171) in processed foods
there are studies about the cause of gastrointestinal dis-
(Athinarayanan et al. 2015). TiO2 is widely used as pigment
orders as a result of oral ingestion. In addition, the
due to its brightness, high refractive index, and resistance
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC 2010)
to colour fading. Every year, millions of tons of TiO2 are
has classified nanosized TiO2 as a Group 2B carcinogen on
produced. 70% of the produced TiO2 is used as a pigment.
the basis of the rate of incidence of respiratory tract cancer
It is used not only in paints as pigments but also in
in rats after prolonged inhalation of TiO2 dust particles. The
plastics, paper, food, pharmaceuticals, toothpastes, and
effects of TiO2 nanoparticles on health have not been
cosmetics. Other uses of TiO2 include antimicrobial appli-
clarified yet, and there is a need for more studies showing
cations, energy storage, medical applications, and use as
their effects on different diseases.
catalysts (Warheit and Donner 2015).
Foods containing E171 have a label indicating that they
In the United States, TiO2 can be used as a colour
contain titanium dioxide as an ingredient in our country.
additive to a maximal concentration of 1%. In the
However, it does not indicate which quantity is used in any
European Union, titanium dioxide (E171) is included in
product. Therefore, determination of TiO2 content of foods
the list of approved colouring agents in Regulation (EC)
is extremely important for human health. In recent years,
No 1333/2008 (European Commission, Regulation (EC) No
studies have been carried out to determine the TiO2 con-
1333/2008). The European Union and Turkish Food Codex
tent of foods, but new studies are still needed (Yang et al.
permit the use of TiO 2(E171) in foods generally in quan-
2014; Sharif et al. 2015; Fiordaliso et al. 2018; Kim et al. 2018;
tum satis levels (i.e. as much as needed, but not more). The
Sezer et al. 2018). The aim of this study is to determine the
daily median intake of TiO2 was estimated as 0.5–2 mg/kg
TiO2 levels, size, and distribution in various foods sold on
body weight (bw) in Germany, the USA, and the UK
Turkish markets.
(Bachler et al. 2015) and 0.06–0.67 mg/kg bw in the
Netherlands (Rompelberg et al. 2016).
It is generally known that the diameter of TiO2 particles Materials and methods
is 50–300 nm, and the majority of commercial products
Samples
that use TiO2 as a pigment additive are consisted with this
particle size (Johnson et al. 1997). In recent years, concerns All of the food samples which are different Turkish brands
have been raised with regard to the toxicity of nanosized were taken from different local markets in Turkey. Certain
TiO2 following oral exposure. The size, structure, and shape products that had a label bearing TiO2 as an ingredient

CONTACT Şana Sungur sanasungur@hotmail.com

© 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

FOOD ADDITIVES & CONTAMINANTS: PART B 261

were preferentially selectedfor the experimental samples, subsequent electron microscopy work. The TiO 2 par-
but some collected samples did not have TiO2 listed as an ticle sizes were based upon counting at least 100
ingredient. Samples were stored in a clean, dry, and dark primary single particles and analysed using ImageJ.
location and analysed before the expiration date.

Quality control and quality assurance

Chemicals and materials
Titanium 1000 mg/L certified stock standard solution
(NH4)2TiF6 was purchased from Merck (Darmstadt,
Germany). All chemicals used were of analytical reagent
grade and were at least 99.5% pure.
Sample digestion
Sample with maximum weight close to 0.5 g sample in 100
ml Pyrex beakers were digested with, 13 mL of 18 M H 2SO4,
3.5 g K 2SO4, and 0.4 g CuSO4at 310 ºC on a hot plate for one
hour and a half, then adding 4.0 ml concentrated HNO3,
and 4.0 ml concentrated HCl gradually to the hot solution
for another half an hour, where beakers were covered by
watch-glasses. Solutions were left to cool down for 30 min-
utes, where samples had blue to blue-green colour, indicat-
ing the complete digestion, followed by adding 10 ml of
30% H 2O2. Finally, the volume is brought up to 100 ml with
deionised water in 100 ml volumetric flasks (Myers et al.
2004).
Inductively coupled plasma optical emission
spectrometry (ICP-OES) measurement
The Ti content in the solutions was measured using a
SpectroBlue SOP Model ICP-OES (SPECTRO Analytical
Instrument GmbH., Kleve, Germany). A segmented-
array charge-coupled device detector was used. The
ICP-OES operating conditions were as follows: 1.5 ml
min−1 sample flow rate, 45 psi nebuliser pressure,
200 ml min −1 auxiliary gas flow rate, 12,000 ml
min−1 plasma gas flow rate, 550 ml min −1 carrier
gas flow rate, and 1500 W radio frequency (RF)
power. Ti was determined at the wavelength of
334.187 nm. All analyses were performed in triplicate.
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM)
measurement
A JEOL JEM-2100 (UHR) transmission electron micro-
scope at 200 keV was used to characterise the parti-
cle size (JEOL, Tokyo, Japan). Approximately 0.02 g of
each sample was suspended in 5 ml of deionised
water. After sonication in water bath for 30 min,
1 ml of slurry was diluted with 25 ml of methanol.
Finally, one or two drops of this suspension were
dripped on the surface of a copper grid for
The calibration curve was created from six calibration
standards in the range of 25–1000 ng ml−1. Standard
solutions were prepared by spiking the appropriate
volumes of the stock solution of 1000 mg L−1 into
100 ml beakers, following the steps of the optimised
digestion procedure as described by Myers et al.
(2004). Ten blank candy samples (previously analysed
and not to contain TiO 2) were fortified with approxi-
mately 5 and 10 mg TiO2 reference material. The
spiked samples were then digested via the previously
described method. After digestion, the recovery sam-
ples were treated using identical procedures for ICP
analysis, and recovery experiments were performed in
triplicate. All of the blank values were averaged, and
the average value was subtracted from the detected
TiO2 values. The limit of detection (LOD) was deter-
mined to be three times the standard deviation of
the blank test values. The limit of quantification
(LOQ) was taken as three times the LOD. The values
of correlation coefficient, recovery, LOD, and LOQ of
TiO2 are listed in Table 1.
Results and discussion
In this study, confectionery foods, chewing gums,
chocolates, and white-coloured foods were investi-
gated. The TiO2 contents of the investigated foods
are given in Table 2. The average titanium dioxide
concentrations were ranging from 3 to 2400 mg kg−1.
High concentrations of titanium dioxide were found
in confectionery foods such as almond toffee
(2400 mg kg −1), cake ornament (2373 mg kg−1 ), and
sugar paste (2008 mg kg−1 ). The low concentrations
of titanium dioxide were also found in white-coloured
foods such as dried beans (3 mg kg−1 ) and salt and
sugar (5 mg kg−1). There are not enough studies on
the determination of TiO2 content of foods in the
literature. In this respect, studies that on chewing
gums draw attention. Previous studies have reported
that chewing gum products have the highest tita-
nium concentration among all products examined.
Table 1. Validation data for the applied method.
Compound Correlation Recovery LOD LOQ
name coefficient (R2) (%) (ng/g) (ng/g)
TiO2 0.9998 91.6–99.8 3.8 12.5

262 Ş. SUNGU R ET AL.

Table 2. TiO2 content of the investigated foods. 6.7% to 9.6% for children, 7.2% to 13.3% for adolescents,
Sample TiO2 (mg/kg) Serving size (g) TiO2 per serving (mg) 12.9% for adults, and 10.6% for the elderly. Estimates of
Almond toffee 2400 ± 1 200 480 ± 0.2 exposure to TiO 2 due to consumption of desserts ranged
Sugar paste 2008 ± 1 400 803 ± 0.4
Cake ornament 2373 ± 1 90 214 ± 0.2 from 7.9% to 15.6% for infants, 5.3% to 12.5% for toddlers,
Glazer 555 ± 0.8 19 11 ± 0.01 and 5.3% to 5.6% for children.
Jelly candy 12 ± 0.02 31 0.4 ± 0.01
Chewing gum1 195 ± 0.2 14 3 ± 0.01
The average diameters and TEM images of TiO2 par-
Chewing gum2 468 ± 0.5 27 13 ± 0.01 ticles in the examined samples are given in Figure 1.
Chewing gum3 1057 ± 1 60 63 ± 0.06
Chewing gum4 775 ± 0.8 10 8 ± 0.008
The size distribution of TiO2 particles spans between 30
Milk cake 58 ± 0.05 35 2 ± 0.01 and 310 nm in confectionery foods and between 50
Gravel chocolate 857 ± 0.8 15 13 ± 0.01 and 210 nm in chewing gums and between 50 and
Dragee1 970 ± 0.8 20 19 ± 0.01
Dragee2 845 ± 0.8 44 37 ± 0.07 250 nm in chocolates. Diameters of more than 50% of
Dragee3 32 ± 0.02 35 1 ± 0.01 TiO 2 particles in sugar paste, chewing gum, milk cake,
Wafer 35 ± 0.02 25 0.9 ± 0.01
Coconut bar 12 ± 0.01 30 0.4 ± 0.01 powder drink, jelly candy, glazer, and wafer were found
White chickpeas 107 ± 0.1 200 21 ± 0.02 to be below 100 nm. The highest percentage of TiO 2
Powder drink 755 ± 0.8 9 7 ± 0.01
Coffee creamer 7 ± 0.01 170 1 ± 0.01 particles with a diameter smaller than 100 nm was in
Sugar 5 ± 0.01 100 0.5 ± 0.01 milk cake (82%) and wafer (74%). In other examined
Rice 7 ± 0.01 100 0.7 ± 0.01 samples (white chickpeas, almond toffee, cake orna-
Dried beans 3 ± 0.01 100 0.3 ± 0.01
Salt 5 ± 0.01 100 0.5 ± 0.01 ment, and gravel chocolate), the percentages of TiO 2
Flour 30 ± 0.02 100 3 ± 0.01 particles under 100 nm were lower and ranged 10–32%.
In the literature, TiO2 nanoparticles smaller than 100 nm
Weir et al. (2012) reported TiO 2 levels between about are generally found in products such as chewing gum,
5.8 and 6.7 mg g −1 in eclipse spearmint gum and sugar, and chocolate (Dudefoi et al. 2018; Weir et al.
mentos fresh mint gum. Peters et al. (2014) found 2012; Peters et al. 2014; Fiordaliso et al. 2018; Lim et al.
an amount of TiO2 in chewing gum of about 9 mg 2018; Hwang et al. 2019).
g−1 . However, a study of Kim et al. (2018) showed The EFSA ANS Panel (EFSA 2016) also noted that the
chewing gum products had lower TiO 2 concentrations fraction of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (with at least
(0.02–0.08 mg g −1) compared to other product cate- one dimension <100 nm) measured in E171 is method
gories. Similarly, titanium dioxide concentrations of dependent, and there were no limits set for the particle
chewing gum products were low in studies of size of titanium dioxide in the EU specifications. The
Fiordaliso et al. (2018) and Dudefoi et al. (2018), panel recommended that the characterisation of the
who reported 0.25–7.53 mg g −1 and 0.5–12.1 mg particle size distribution, as well as the percentage (in
g−1 , respectively. In our study, the titanium dioxide numbers and mass) of particles in the nanoscale pre-
concentration of chewing gum products was lower sent in the food additive E171, should be included
than that reported in the literature, with average among the EU specifications (EFSA 2018).
titanium dioxide concentrations ranging from 0.19 The effects of exposure to nano-sized TiO2 through
to 1.06 mg g −1 in chewing gums. The difference food consumption remain unclear. Studies with labora-
between the results may be due to different sources tory animals showed that ingestion of large amounts of
of chewing gums. TiO 2 nanoparticles can damage various organs, includ-
In the study of Kim et al. (2018), the amounts of tita- ing the liver. The removal of titanium dioxide nanopar-
nium dioxide in chocolates and candies ranged between ticles from the body has been shown to be a very slow
0.02 and 2.11 mg g −1 and 0.04–1.23 mg g−1 , respectively. process leading to potential accumulation in tissues
Hwang et al. (2019) found TiO2 amounts between 6.32 (Berik 2018). In a study performed by Guo et al.
and 8.63 mg g−1 in chocolates, 1.09–9.87 mg g−1in sugars, (2017), it was found that microvilli were affected by
and 1.30–2.33 mg g−1 in jellybeans. In our study, titanium exposure to 30 nm TiO 2 nanoparticles and caused
dioxide concentrations were ranging from 0.01 to 0.97 mg changes in the absorption function of small intestines.
g−1 in chocolate products, while titanium dioxide levels As a result, the barrier effect of the intestines against
were 0.01–2.40 mg g−1 in confectionery foods. These microorganisms is weakened and the absorption of
results are closer to the work of Kim et al. (2018). nutrients such as iron, zinc, and fatty acids is slowed.
In the report of the EFSA Panel on Food Additives Other findings include changes in enzyme activity and
(EFSA 2016), levels of exposure to TiO2 as a result of the increased inflammation signals. Therefore, the determi-
consumption of some food categories for six population nation of the dimensions and quantities of titanium
groups were summarised. Estimates of exposure to TiO2 dioxide used in foods is extremely important for
due to the consumption of chewing gum ranged from human health.

FOOD ADDITIVES & CONTAMINANTS: PART B 263

a) White chickpeas

b) Almond toffee

c) Sugar paste

d) Cake ornament

Figure 1. The average diameters and TEM images of TiO 2 particles in the examined samples.

264 Ş. SUNGU R ET AL.

e) Chewinggum

f) Milk cake

g) Powder drink

h) Jelly candy

Figure 1. (Continued).

FOOD ADDITIVES & CONTAMINANTS: PART B 265

i) Gravel chocolate

k) Glazer

l) Wafer

m) Coconut bar

Figure 1. (Continued).

266 Ş. SUNGU R ET AL.

Conclusion EFSA. 2016. Re-evaluation of titanium dioxide (E 171) as a

Since TiO2 nanoparticles are mostly used in products that
are frequently consumed by children, such as chocolate,
confectionery, chewing gum, and snack foods, it is of great
importance to determine the amounts and sizes of TiO2
entering the body of consumers. The health effects of TiO2
nanoparticles have not been clarified yet, and further stu-
dies are needed to show their effects on different diseases.
Although consumption of these products does not exceed
the daily intake of TiO 2, it should not be ignored that TiO2
nanoparticles with sizes less than 100 nm are also present
in the investigated products.
Acknowledgements
This research (19.YL.004) was supported by the Scientific
Research Projects Coordination Unit of Mustafa Kemal
University. The authors would like to thank the Scientific
Research Projects Coordination Unit of Mustafa Kemal
University for financial support.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the
author(s).
Ethical approval
This article does not contain any studies with human partici-
pants or animals performed by any of the authors. An
informed consent is not applicable.
ORCID
Şana Sungur http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7370-8972
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Citations (24) References (27)

... As a result, the ingestion of TiO 2 NPs by humans is increasing. Exposure doses of TiO 2 NPs in the human diet
can reach 0.06-2 mg per kg body weight per day (Sungur et al. 2020) . Previously, titanium dioxide was considered to
be a harmless substance. ...

... The amount of titanium dioxide that is consumed in Europe is approximately the same. Children's daily dietary
exposure in the UK and Germany is between 2 and 3 mg/kg, compared to 1 mg/kg for other age groups (Sungur et
al. 2020) . TiO 2 NPs intake varies generally among persons of different ages and countries. ...

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scattering effect of TiO 2 particles occurring in the particle size range of 200-300 nm, is used as a whitener [1].
Several studies have characterized the physicochemical properties of E 171 either as a pristine material [2][3][4][5][6]
[7][8][9][10] or as found in food samples [7,9,[11][12] [13] [14][15][16], using transmission or scanning electron
microscopy (TEM, SEM), coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) when food matrices are
analyzed, for assessing the constituent particle size, and X-ray Diffraction (XRD), for assessing the crystalline phase.
These investigations showed that E 171 appears as a polydisperse material composed by anatase (rarely rutile)
particles, with a constituent size typically ranging 30-350 nm and smaller or larger particles being sparingly present. ...

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mechanical, barrier, and chemical impacts of the films, corroborated by cost-effectiveness, chemical stability,
nontoxicity, and eco-friendly nature (Baranowska-Wójcik et al., 2020;Mohr et al., 2019; Sungur et al., 2020) . The
antimicrobial efficacy of such elements is dealt with the generation of ROS and free radicals (Venkatasubbu et al.,
2016). ...

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environmental decontamination of air, soil, and water [13][14][15] [16] . ...

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standard solutions of different concentrations based on our previous reports [15,30]. It was reported that the amount
of SiO 2 and TiO 2 in commercial foods are ranged from 1.5 to 7 mg/g and 0.2 to 10 mg/g, which are enough to be
detected by ICP-AES [15,31, 32] . Organic materials in the supernatants obtained after dissolution or CPE
experiments were digested with 10 mL of ultrapure HNO 3 and 1 mL of H 2 O 2 at 180°C until the solution was
colorless and entirely evaporated. ...

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Foods

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Ri-Ye Kwon · Su-Bin Kim · Su-Min Youn · Soo-Jin Choi

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Exploring the aspects of the application of nanotechnology system in aquaculture: a systematic review

Article Full-text available Jan 2024 · AQUACULT INT

Md. Tanvir Ahmed · Md Sadek Ali · Tanvir Ahamed · Monjurul Haq

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Greenness of analytical methods for the study of metal-containing nanoparticles in biomedical samples, personal
care products and food

Article Nov 2023 · TRAC-TREND ANAL CHEM

Dominik Blaimer · Kerstin Leopold

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Genotoxicity assessment of titanium dioxide nanoparticles using a standard battery of in vivo assays

Article Oct 2023

Nana Sun · Xiaopeng Zhang · Chunlai Liang · Xudong Jia

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Large-scale screening of E171 food additive (TiO2) on the French market from 2018 to 2022: Occurrence and
particle size distribution in various food categories

Article Sep 2023 · FOOD CONTROL

Guillaume Bucher · Hind El Hadri · Océane Asensio · Jean-Philippe Rosec

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Characterisation of engineered titanium dioxide nanoparticles in selected food

Article May 2023 · FOOD ADDIT CONTAM B

Mohammed A. Al Mutairi · Norah M BinSaeedan · Khulood K. Alnabati · Abdullah Alowaifeer

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Evaluation of the content of TiO 2 nanoparticles in the
coatings of chewing gums
October 2017 · Food Additives and Contaminants - Part A
Chemistry, Analysis, Control, Exposure and Risk Assessment
Characterization of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in
confectionary products and estimation of dieta...
October 2022 · NanoImpact
Langzhi He · Hongbo Wang · Shumin Duan · [...] ·
 William Dudefoi · Hélène Terrisse · Aurelian
Florin Popa · [...] · Marie-Hélène Ropers
Titanium dioxide is a metal oxide used as a white pigment in
many food categories, including confectionery. Due to differences
in the mass fraction of nanoparticles contained in TiO2, the
estimated intakes of TiO2 nanoparticles differ by a factor of 10 in
the literature. To resolve this problem, a better estimation of the
mass of nanoparticles present in food products is needed. In this
study, we ... [Show full abstract]
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Yun Wang
Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is widely used in the food industry.
Recently, European Commission has banned TiO2 as a food
additive, raising public concern about its health risk, especially
the nanoparticles (NPs) contained therein. This study aimed to
reveal the existence of TiO2 NPs in food and further estimate the
dietary exposure level among Chinese population by
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Article Article Full-text available

Large-scale screening of E171 food additive (TiO2) on Realistic Evaluation of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticle
the French market from 2018 to 2022: Occurrenc... Exposure in Chewing Gum
September 2023 · Food Control June 2018 · Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

Guillaume Bucher · Hind El Hadri · Océane Fabio Fiordaliso · Claudia Foray · Monica Salio ·
Asensio · [...] · Jean-Philippe Rosec [...] · Luisa Diomede

Read more There is growing concern about the presence of nanoparticles

(NPs) in titanium dioxide (TiO2) as food additive (E171). To
realistically estimate the number and the amount of TiO2 NPs
ingested with food we applied a transmission electron microscopy
method combined with inductively coupled plasma optical
emission spectrometry. Different percentages of TiO2 NPs (6-
18%) were detected in E171 from ... [Show full abstract]

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