The point on the classification of titanium dioxide as a carcinogen

Abstract

The classification of certain forms of titanium dioxide (TiO2) as suspected inhalation carcinogens (Carc. 2; H351(inhalation): “suspected of causing cancer (by inhalation)”) has been published in the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020 /217 of 4 October 2019 (fourteenth adaptation to technical and scientific progress), which amends Regulation (EC) No. 1272/2008 (CLP Regulation). Furthermore, with Regulation (EU) 2020/217, the provisions for the classification of mixtures and the labeling of certain mixtures containing TiO2 with specific EUH indications of the European Union. The Regulation provided for a transitional period of eighteen months starting from 1 October 2021. However, the Court of Justice of the European Union has decided to cancel the classification of TiO2 as a carcinogen provided for by Regulation (EU) 2020/217 (joined cases T-279/20, T-288/20 and T-283/20). In its Judgment, the Court of Justice has questioned the reliability and acceptability of the study on which the classification of the Commission was based, and decided that the classification and labeling of titanium dioxide as a carcinogen is invalid because, in a nutshell, TiO2 cannot be considered inherently carcinogenic .