The ECHA Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) has been assessing TiO2 under the CLP regulation. Today, 9 June, ECHA published a press release that 'Titanium dioxide proposed to be classified as suspected of causing cancer when inhaled'. RAC concluded that the available scientific evidence meets the criteria in the CLP Regulation to classify titanium dioxide as a substance suspected of causing cancer through the inhalation route. The opinion will be formally adopted by RAC by written procedure or at the September meeting.
The RAC classification is based solely on the hazardous properties of the substance. Therefore, it does not take into account the likelihood of exposure to the substance and therefore does not address exposure or any risk of TiO2.
The dossier is covering TiO2 as a substance and is not specific for nanomaterials. However, the outcome of the RAC decision can have far reaching implications for classifications of other partially soluble low-toxicity particles.
