As early as sixty years ago, zinc sulphide was first thought of as a pigment for coloring India rubber and a patent for the process of its manufacture was issued in England. But it was not until twenty years later that zinc sulphide and its manufacture was seriously considered as a pigment for paint, and in 1874 a patent was issued for a process of manufacturing a white pigment, composed of zinc sulphide and barium sulphate, known as Charlton white, also as Orr's white enamel. This was followed in 1876 by a patent issued to a manufacturer named Griffith and the product, which was similar in character to Charlton white, was known as Griffith's patent zinc white. In 1879 another patent for a more novel process was obtained by Griffith & Cawley, the product made under this process proving the best of the series placed upon the market up to that date. After that time many new processes were patented, all, however, tending to the same object, that of producing a white pigment, composed of zinc sulphide and barium carbonate, the results, however, in many cases ending with failure.

Titanium dioxide (E 171) is authorised as a food additive in the EU according to Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008.  

Other scientists, however, have called into question the experimental designs of such studies, citing inconsistent results specifically in studies used to test DNA damage.

CSPI’s Chemical Cuisine is the web’s definitive rating of the chemicals used to preserve foods and affect their taste, texture, or appearance. Besides titanium dioxide, the group recommends avoiding artificial sweeteners like aspartame, acesulfame potassium, and sucralose, as well as synthetic food dyes like Yellow 5 and Red 3. CSPI and others have recently asked the Food and Drug Administration to ban the latter dye in foods and ingested drugs because the FDA has already determined that it is a carcinogen unsafe for use in cosmetics.

The Asian market was favorable to the rising price trends of titanium dioxide in the first quarters of 2023. The prices inclined gradually with some slight fluctuations. The positive outlook of the market was a direct effect of removing covid restrictions, upscaling industrial production, and high speed of market recovery.

You see sometime ago, before they changed their warranty to exclude sunscreen damage, Bluescope Steel were getting countless warranty claims for peeling paint. All curiously shaped in fingerprint patterns around the edge of their metal sheets. This was a little perplexing & financially worrying for the bosses at Bluescope steel so they got some clever scientists to test the damaged roof sheets.

However, the market could not sustain these high prices and strived for equilibrium, causing the prices to fall. Further, after the complete removal of restrictions, the factories churned out products at a much faster pace than the market offtakes. Hence, the manufacturers reduced their quotations to maintain positive product movement in the market. The spot prices of titanium dioxide averaged around 2264 USD/MT in June’23 in the Chinese market.