Titanium Dioxide - what are your thoughts?

I was driving my son to school today when I heard something on the news that peaked my interest. What the news said is that the individual molecules of titanium dioxide are so small that they can actually travel through human cells themselves. And, because there hasn't been enough research to determine what the risks are (if any), Dunkin' Donuts has chosen to stop using titanium dioxide to whiten the powder on top of their powdered donuts.

How do you guys feel about titanium dioxide? Will you stop using it? How can you have whiter soap without it?

You can choose oils that lead to whiter soaps in general, if TD is an issue.

That said, the amount that we use coupled with the fact that soap is a wash off product not one that we tend to put in to our bodies ends up making me think it's not such an issue

The Efficacious Gentleman said:

You can choose oils that lead to whiter soaps in general, if TD is an issue.

That said, the amount that we use coupled with the fact that soap is a wash off product not one that we tend to put in to our bodies ends up making me think it's not such an issue

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I think someone could argue that the oils we use are meant to soak into the skin and provide moisture and softness. Therefore, it could be a carrier for this molecule to pass through the skin. Dunno - just my scientist brain's thoughts

With a wash off product I have no concern. I also don't think that the oils we use in soap provide much in the way of moisture and softness. They aren't on our skin long enough. However, I do think they are less likely to strip all the natural oils off our skin when using a low cleansing good conditioning bar of soap. For moisture & softness I go to my other leave on products. I would rather use TD & handmade soap than a lot of other nasty things on my skin. That's why I started making soap, so that I can control what goes into my products. Just my point of view and thoughts.

I agree with the others, I'm not worried about it with a wash off product. You can use zinc oxide for whitening too, there is a type with larger molecules that can't penetrate the skin.

Luv2Soap said:

I think someone could argue that the oils we use are meant to soak into the skin and provide moisture and softness. Therefore, it could be a carrier for this molecule to pass through the skin. Dunno - just my scientist brain's thoughts

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We don't use oils on our skin with soap - we use salts.

The Efficacious Gentleman said:

You can choose oils that lead to whiter soaps in general, if TD is an issue.


That said, the amount that we use coupled with the fact that soap is a wash off product not one that we tend to put in to our bodies ends up making me think it's not such an issue

Click to expand...

I used td when I was using a palm/olive oil base, but now I'm using lard/tallow recipes, I have absolutely no need for it.

I wonder though. Soap is a wash off product, but we talk about superfatted formulas leaving traces of oil behind. So, I doubt they are completely and thoroughly washed off.

As with any health study, the results can be misleading, and it's only a matter of time before another study refutes the findings of the first study.
If it concerns you, you can research how the study was performed and decide for yourself. (That being said....because its a time consuming process, I don't often do that myself)

I'm allergic to chemical based sunscreens, so I have to use zinc and/or titanium based ones. (I'm in S. California) Some contain micronized particles that some say can be absorbed, and since I chose not to spend my time researching the matter, I simply make sure I buy the sunscreen with "normal" sized zinc/titanium, in hopes that if it is absorbed, its in smaller amounts.

There is such a large amount of conflicting information about how much the skin absorbs (or doesn't absorb). I've decided to just keep the body products I use as simple as possible. After all, no one needs to have silicones or parabens in their skin care products.

Both TiO2 and ZnO are used as whitening in foods and cosmetics, most notably sunscreens as both offer some sort of UV protection from what I have read. I would think that the amount used in soap is much less of an issue than that used in things such as sunscreen and lotions. Unless you are putting large amounts in the soap I doubt it could be any worse than sunscreens.

I really appreciate all of your views on this. I suppose I was surprised that Dunkin Donuts used this on a food product in the first place. I'm not a purist by any means, but the thought that people would eat this really un-nerved me a bit.

TD is actually used in a lot of foods, check the labels on some white colored salad dressing.

The TD we use in soap is "normal" TD, there is nano-TD available. It is used in sunscreens to avoid the white skin look. But I doubt any of us spends the extra $ to get nano-particle-sized TD and it isn't widely available either.

Biggest issue I have with TD, is that it can cause a weird crackling effect if not pre-soaked for a day...

A lot of lazy reporting leads to TD = Nano-Particle TD discussions, but they are different.