Two jobs, two names
The EU's CosIng database describes titanium dioxide as an inorganic oxide and lists four functions: colourant, opacifying, UV absorber and UV filter. It adds that, to identify the colourant for labelling in the EU, the name CI 77891 must be used.1
In the regulation, Annex IV, the list of permitted colourants, has it as entry 143, CI 77891, colour white; Annex VI, the list of permitted UV filters, has it as entries 27 and 27a, Titanium Dioxide and Titanium Dioxide (nano).2 A colourant colours by absorbing or reflecting visible light, while a UV filter protects the skin against certain UV radiation by absorbing, reflecting or scattering it.2 CI numbers in makeup explains the colourant names.
As a UV filter
As a UV filter, titanium dioxide may make up at most 25% of the ready-for-use product, and where the ordinary and nano forms are combined, their sum may not exceed 25%.2
The nano form is allowed only if the material meets the conditions in its entry. They include a purity of at least 99%, the rutile crystal form (or rutile with up to 5% anatase), a median particle size of at least 30 nm, one of the listed coatings, low photocatalytic activity, and photostability in the finished product. It may not be used in applications that may lead to exposure of the user's lungs by inhalation, and the form coated with alumina and manganese dioxide may not be used on the lips.2 An EU list marks any nanomaterial by adding "(nano)" after its name.3
The rule for breathable powder
A separate entry, Annex III entry 321, covers titanium dioxide in powder form containing 1% or more of particles with an aerodynamic diameter of 10 μm or less. It may be used in loose face powders at up to 25%, and in hair aerosol sprays at up to 1.4% for general consumers or 1.1% for professional use, in both cases only in pigmentary form. In other products it may not be used in applications that may lead to exposure of the user's lungs by inhalation. The colourant entry and the UV-filter entry for the ordinary form both refer to this restriction.2
The restriction was added in 2021. It followed the EU's classification of that powder form, in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/217, as a suspected carcinogen by inhalation, and an assessment by the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety that set out the levels above for loose face powders and hair sprays.45 The EU courts later annulled that classification: the General Court in 2022, upheld by the Court of Justice in August 2025.5 The cosmetics restriction is a separate rule and is still in the regulation's consolidated text of May 2026.2
Not the same question as E 171 in food
Titanium dioxide was also a food colour, E 171. In 2022 the EU removed its authorisation in foods, after the European Food Safety Authority concluded that a concern for genotoxicity could not be ruled out.6 The food additive list still names E 171 because medicines use it, with a note that it is not authorised in the food categories.7 That rule concerns food; cosmetics follow the annexes above.
How it appears on a label
- CI 77891: the name EU labels must use when titanium dioxide colours the product.1
- Titanium Dioxide: the name in the EU's UV-filter entry.2
- Titanium Dioxide (nano): the nano form, which must be marked that way.3
US labels use the name Titanium Dioxide; there it is a colour additive permitted in cosmetics, including around the eyes, without batch certification.8 No label states the amount, the particle size beyond the nano marker, or whether a powder is the restricted form, and none of the names amounts to an SPF. To match the names on your own list, use the ingredient checker.