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Background: Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ), a white powder, represents the opacifier used in many products, including drugs, foods, cosmetics, paints, and dyes., Method: The Uv-Vis spectrophotometry was a particularly suitable technique to quantify TiO 2 in the solutions obtained from cosmetics. In this work, we determined the TiO 2 content in a total of 88 samples of eye shadows and face powders of different brands and costs. Before to analyse the samples, we developed the mineralization and analysis method, in fact, fusion with potassium bisulphate would be very laborious because it must be carried out on one sample at a time and requires very long times, instead, the mineralization with the acid mixture and the aid of microwaves allowed us to solubilize six samples at the same time within 45 min., Results: From the results obtained, we can state that the highest concentrations of TiO 2 are found in the eyeshadows with a maximum value of 36% in a blue eyeshadow., (© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Heavy mineral deposits occur in several coastal areas of the world, formed over a long period due to variations in mean sea level, wave action, and winds. These are the main sources of ilmenite (FeTiO3), which in turn is the source of more than 80% of the TiO2 produced and applied in various industries, most recently in nanotechnology. The present study mapped heavy mineral deposits on the coast of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil using integrated proximal and orbital thermal infrared (TIR) remote sensing techniques. Mineral groups, such as oxides and silicates, have spectral features in the TIR wavelengths. Using laboratory spectroscopy at TIR using Nicolet 6700 Thermo Scientific Spectrometer, we measured the spectral signature of the local sample of heavy minerals (between 8 and 14 μm) and identified a diagnostic spectral feature at 10.75 μm. The signature was resampled to be compatible with the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission Radiometer (ASTER) sensor bandwidth values and used as a reference endmember for the Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) and Linear Spectral Unmixing (LSU) digital image classification algorithms. Thus, we identified the presence of the reference endmember (heavy minerals) in the pixels of the ASTER scene. In pixels classified by SAM as the presence of heavy minerals, LSU was applied to estimate the surface concentration within the pixel. The results showed a concentration of up to 20% of heavy minerals, with the highest concentration on the beach and dune fields. Opaque minerals such as ilmenite do not have spectral reflectance features in visible, near-infrared, and short-wave infrared, which makes their identification by remote sensing difficult. The present study showed that the integration of proximal and orbital as well as hyperspectral and multispectral thermal data can be considered as an alternative for detecting and mapping heavy minerals in coastal areas., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright: © 2024 Prates Hallal et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

This study addressed primarily the characterisation and quantification of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) (nano)particles (NPs) in a large variety of commercial foodstuffs. The samples were purchased from local markets in Spain before the ban of TiO 2 food additive (E171) in the EU. The analyses were carried out by single particle inductively coupled plasma-tandem mass spectrometry (spICP-MS/MS) in mass shift mode (oxidation of 48 Ti to 48 Ti 16 O ( m/z  = 64)) and using a highly efficient sample introduction system (APEX™ Ω). This novel analytical approach allowed accurate characterisation of a large panel of TiO 2 NPs sizes ranging from ∼12 to ∼800 nm without isobaric interferences from 48 Ca isotope, which is highly abundant in most of the analysed foodstuffs. TiO 2 NPs were extracted from foodstuffs using sodium dodecyl sulphate (0.1%, w/v ) and diluted with ultra-pure water to reach ∼ 1000 particles signals per acquisition. All the analysed samples contained TiO 2 NPs with concentrations ranging from 10 10 to 10 14 particles kg -1 , but with significant low recoveries compared to the total Ti determination. A selection of samples was also analysed using a similar spICP-MS/MS approach with a conventional sample introduction system. The comparison of results highlighted the improvement of the limit of detection in size (12 nm) by the APEX™ Ω system, providing nanoparticulate fractions ranging from ∼4% (cheddar sauce) up to ∼87% (chewing gum), which is among the highest nanoparticulate fractions reported in literature using a spICP-MS approach. In addition, two commercially available E171 additives were analysed using the previous approaches and other techniques in different European laboratories with the aim of methods inter-comparison. This study provides occurrence data related to TiO 2 NPs in common commercial foodstuffs but it also demonstrates the potential of the novel analytical approach based on APEX™-ICP-MS/MS to characterise nano-size TiO 2 particles in complex matrices such as foodstuffs.

Background: Determining the concentration of nanoparticles (NPs) in marine organisms is important for evaluating their environmental impact and to assess potential food safety risks to human health., Objective: The current work aimed at developing an in-house method based on single-particle inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (SP-ICP-MS) suitable for surveillance of NPs in mussels., Methods: A new low-cost and simple protease mixture was utilized for sample digestion, and novel open-source data processing was used, establishing detection limits on a statistical basis using false-positive and false-negative probabilities. The method was validated for 30 and 60 nm gold NPs spiked to mussels as a proxy for seafood., Results: Recoveries were 76-77% for particle mass concentration and 94-101% for particle number concentration. Intermediate precision was 8-9% for particle mass concentration and 7-8% for particle number concentration. The detection limit for size was 18 nm, for concentration 1.7 ng/g, and 4.2 × 105 particles/g mussel tissue., Conclusion: The performance characteristics of the method were satisfactory compared with numeric Codex criteria. Further, the method was applied to titanium-, chromium- and copper-based particles in mussels., Highlights: The method demonstrates a new practical and cost-effective sample treatment, and streamlined, transparent, and reproducible data treatment for the routine surveillance of NPs in mussels., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of AOAC INTERNATIONAL.)

Engineered Nanomaterials (ENMs) or products containing ENMs, known as nano-enabled products are commercialized globally by a large number of companies. Concern about the potential risks and negative impacts of releasing ENMs into the environment is under investigation. For this reason, methodologies to estimate the probable mass concentrations of ENMs released in different regions of the world have been developed. As a first attempt to estimate the probable mass flows of nanosized titanium dioxide (nano-TiO 2 ) released in Mexico, we developed a Probabilistic Material Flow Analysis (PMFA) for 2015. The model describes probabilistic mass flows of released nano-TiO 2 during the life cycle of sunscreens, coatings, ceramic, and other nano-enabled products, including the flows through the solid waste and wastewater management systems, as well as the transfer of nano-TiO 2 to three environmental compartments (atmosphere, topsoil, and surface water). The PMFA incorporates the uncertainty related to the input data. We observed that the most significant nano-TiO 2 flows occur to the surface water, landfill, and soil compartments, targeted as the main "hot-spots", where living organisms could be more exposed to this material. Further improvements in the model are needed due to some data gaps at some life cycle stages, for instance, solid waste management and reused wastewater manipulation for irrigation purposes. Finally, the model developed in this study can be adjusted to assess other ENM releases and can be beneficial for further investigation in fate modeling and environmental risk assessment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A multimodal approach combining inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), single-particle ICP-MS (spICP-MS), scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and Raman spectroscopy enabled a deeper insight into the balance between total titanium (Ti), the soluble titanium fraction and titanium dioxide based particle fraction levels in periprosthetic tissues collected from patients undergoing revision surgery. Hydrofluoric acid usage in the sample digestion allowed for complete digestion of TiO 2 particles, thus enabling accurate estimation of total Ti levels. The TiO 2 fraction represents 38-94% of the titanium load in the six samples where particles were detected, and the fraction is present mainly in samples from patients with aseptically loosened total hip arthroplasty. Further attention was given to this fraction determining the elemental composition, particle count, particle size and modification of TiO 2 . The spICP-MS analysis confirmed the presence of the TiO 2 -derived (nano)particles (NPs) with a 39- to 187-nm median size and particle count up to 2.3 × 10 11 particles per gram of tissue. On top of that, the SEM-EDS confirmed the presence of the TiO 2 nanoparticles with 230-nm median size and an anatase crystal phase was determined by Raman spectroscopy. This study presents a novel multimodal approach for TiO 2 particle determination and characterization in tissue samples and is the first in vivo study of this character., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) is an important industrial chemical, and studies suggest its major production route - the chloride process could lead to the generation of unintentional dl-POPs. However, no relevant studies assessed the occurrence of dl-POPs associated with TiO 2 production in the industrial zones, which is mostly due to the ultra-trace level distribution of these compounds in environmental compartments. The present study explored the novel possibility of utilising foraging animal-origin foods as sensitive indicators for addressing this challenge and generated a globally beneficial dataset by assessing the background levels of dl-POPs in the vicinity of a TiO 2 production house in Southern India. Systematic sampling of foraging cow's milk and free-ranging hen's eggs was carried out from the study site, and the dl-POPs assessments were conducted utilising an in-house developed cost-effective GC-MS/MS-based analytical methodology. The median dl-POPs levels in milk and egg samples were about 3 times higher than the control samples collected from farm-fed animals and retail markets. The contaminant loads in the foraging animal-origin food samples were further traced to their presence in environmental compartments of soil and sediment and admissible degree of correlations were observed in congener fingerprints. Elevated health risks were inferred for the population in the industrial zones with weekly intakes weighing about 0.15-17 times the European Food Safety Authority-assigned levels. The consumption of foraging cow's milk was observed to have a higher contribution towards the hazard indices and cancer risk estimates and were significantly higher (p < 0.05) for children. The study also presents a critical validation of the GC-MS/MS-based method for the purpose of regulatory monitoring of dl-POPs, which could be of practical significance in economies in transition., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

TiO 2 is the most widely used white pigment in plastics and food packaging industry, thus the question of its migration towards food and hence the impact on consumers is raised. Since recent research indicate its potential toxicity, it is necessary to study TiO 2 contamination as a consequence of food storage. For this purpose, plastic containers from commercially-available dairy products and custom-made TiO 2 -spiked polypropylene materials were put in contact with 50% (v/v) ethanol and 3% (w/v) acetic acid, which were used here as food simulants. The migration assays were carried out under standard contact conditions of packaging use (as recommended by Commission Regulation (EU) N° 10/2011 for food contact migration testing), and under conditions of extreme mechanical degradation of the packaging. The TiO 2 (nano)particles released in the food simulants were analysed by single particle inductively coupled plasma-tandem mass spectrometry in mass-shift mode and using a high efficiency sample introduction system (APEX™ Ω) to avoid matrix effects from food simulants. For the dairy product containers and for the spiked polypropylene, results showed release of TiO 2 particles of rather large sizes (average size: 164 and 175 nm, respectively) under mechanical degradation conditions, i.e. when the polymeric structure is damaged. The highest amounts of TiO 2 were observed in 50% ethanol after 10 days of storage at 50 °C (0.62 ng cm -2 ) for the dairy product containers and after 1 day of storage at 50 °C (0.68 ng cm -2 ) for the spiked polypropylene. However, the level of Ti released in particle form was very small compared to the total Ti content in the packaging and far below the acceptable migration limits set by European legislation. Release under standard contact conditions of use of the container was not measurable, thus the migration of TiO 2 particles from this packaging to dairy products among storage is expected to be negligible., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Chromium (Cr) toxicity can negatively affect plant growth and development, impacting agricultural productivity and posing risks to human health. Metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) such as titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) and natural growth regulators such as melatonin (MT) become a promising technology to manage heavy metal-contaminated soils and promote safe food production. The present work was conducted to find the effect of foliar application of TiO 2 NPs (15 mg L -1 ) and MT (100 µM) on growth, biochemical attributes, and Cr accumulation in plant tissues of Melissa officinalis L. under Cr toxicity (50 and 100 mg Cr kg -1 soil). The results showed that Cr toxicity led to decreased plant performance, where 100 mg Cr kg -1 soil led to notable decreases in shoot weight (28%), root weight (27%), essential oil (EO) yield (34%), chlorophyll (Chl) a + b (33%), while increased malondialdehyde (MDA, 30%), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity (51%), and catalase (CAT) activity (122%). The use of TiO 2 NPs and MT, particularly their co-application, remarkably reduced Cr toxicity by enhancing plant weight, Chl content, and lowered MDA and antioxidant activity. Total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), EO percentage, and rosmarinic acid in plants treated with Cr at 50 mg Cr kg -1 soil and co-application of TiO 2 NPs and MT were relatively higher than in other treatments. Under 100 mg Cr kg -1 soil, the synergic effect of TiO 2 NPs and MT-enhanced rosmarinic acid content (22%) but lowered Cr accumulation in roots (51%) and shoots (72%). Heat map analysis showed that CAT, SOD, MDA, and EO yield had the maximum variability under Cr, TiO 2 NPs, and MT. Exogenous TiO 2 NPs and MT can be recommended to modulate Cr toxicity in lemon balm under soil Cr toxicity., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Trace metals are naturally occurring metals found in very small concentrations in the environment. In the context of fish flesh, metals such as copper, calcium, potassium, sodium, zinc, iron, and manganese are absorbed by fish and play vital roles in various physiological functions. However, if these metals exceed the recommended limits set by WHO/FAO, they are termed 'toxic metals' due to their harmful impacts on both the fish and its consumers. Therefore, the present study aims to analyze the levels of protein, lipids, and certain metals-Aluminum (Al), Sodium (Na), Zinc (Zn), Titanium (Ti), Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu), Potassium (K), and Calcium (Ca) in three commercially important marine fishes i.e. Rastrelliger kanagurta, Sardinella abella, and Otolithes ruber. The study also aims to assess their potential impact on human health. The macro-Kjeldhal method and Soxhlet apparatus were used to estimate protein and lipid contents, while atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) was used to estimate trace metals found in fishes. The study found that these fish species are valuable sources of protein, lipids, and certain essential minerals. The protein content (CP) in these three species ranged from 63.35 to 86.57%, while lipid content was from 21.05 to 23.86%. The overall results of the trace metal concentrations analyzed in the present study revealed that Aluminum (Al), Sodium (Na), Zinc (Zn), Titanium (Ti), Copper (Cu), Potassium (K), and Calcium (Ca) were found in low concentration or traces and also within suitable ranges as set by WHO/FAO. However, Iron (Fe) was absent in all three species. Moreover, both copper and potassium were found in all three species, while Zinc was present in Rastrelliger kanagurta and Sardinella abella, calcium in Sardinella abella, and sodium in Otolithes ruber only. Titanium was recorded for the first time in S. abella. However, the total health risk assessment associated with these fish food consumption was measured by THQ and TTHQ and found to be less than 1, which shows no potential risk related to trace metals found in these fishes on human health upon their consumption. In conclusion, these commercially important marine fish species were found valuable sources of protein, lipids, and essential trace minerals that are necessary for human health. Thus, the current study provides useful information for the local population to make informed decisions about their daily diets and highlights the importance of sustainable fishing practices to maintain these valuable marine resources by periodical monitoring of their ecosystem., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Wearable, noninvasive sensors enable the continuous monitoring of metabolites in sweat and provide clinical information related to an individual ' s health and disease states. Uric acid (UA) is a key indicator highly associated with gout, hyperuricaemia, hypertension, kidney disease, and Lesch-Nyhan syndrome. However, the detection of UA levels typically relies on invasive blood tests. Therefore, developing a wearable device for noninvasive monitoring of UA concentrations in sweat could facilitate real-time personalized disease prevention. Here, we introduce 1,3,6,8-pyrene tetrasulfonic acid sodium salt (PyTS) as a bifunctional molecule functionalized with Ti 3 C 2 T x via π-π conjugation to design nonenzymatic wearable sensors for sensitive and selective detection of UA concentration in human sweat. PyTS@Ti 3 C 2 T x provides many oxidation-reduction active groups to enhance the electrocatalytic ability of the UA oxidation reaction. The PyTS@Ti 3 C 2 T x -based electrochemical sensor demonstrates highly sensitive detection of UA in the concentration range of 5 μM-100 μM, exhibiting a lower detection limit of 0.48 μM compared to the uricase-based sensor (0.84 μM). In volunteers, the PyTS@Ti 3 C 2 T x -based wearable sensor is integrated with flexible microfluidic sweat sampling and wireless electronics to enable real-time monitoring of UA levels during aerobic exercise. Simultaneously, it allows for comparison of blood UA levels via a commercial UA analyzer. Herein, this study provides a promising electrocatalyst strategy for nonenzymatic electrochemical UA sensor, enabling noninvasive real-time monitoring of UA levels in human sweat and personalized disease prevention.

Objective: To establish an analytical method for determining the migration of 24 elements in Yixing clay pottery in 4% acetic acid simulated solution by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry., Methods: Four types of Yixing clay pottery, including Yixing clay teapot, Yixing clay kettle, Yixing clay pot, and Yixing clay electric stew pot, were immersed in 4% acetic acid as a food simulant for testing. The migration amount of 24 elements in the migration solution was determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry., Results: Lithium, magnesium, aluminum, iron, and barium elements with a mass concentration of 1000 μg/L; Lead, cadmium, total arsenic, chromium, nickel, copper, vanadium, manganese, antimony, tin, zinc, cobalt, molybdenum, silver, beryllium, thallium, titanium, and strontium elements within 100 μg/L there was a linear relationship within, the r value was between 0.998 739 and 0.999 989. Total mercury at 5.0 μg/L, there was a linear relationship within, the r value of 0.995 056. The detection limit of the elements measured by this method was between 0.5 and 45.0 μg/L, the recovery rate was 80.6%-108.9%, and the relative standard deviation was 1.0%-4.8%(n=6). A total of 32 samples of four types of Yixing clay pottery sold on the market, including teapots, boiling kettles, casseroles, and electric stewing pots, were tested. It was found that the migration of 16 elements, including beryllium, titanium, chromium, nickel, cobalt, zinc, silver, cadmium, antimony, total mercury, thallium, tin, copper, total arsenic, molybdenum, and lead, were lower than the quantitative limit. The element with the highest migration volume teapot was aluminum, magnesium, and barium; The kettle was aluminum and magnesium; Casserole was aluminum, magnesium, and lithium; The electric stew pot was aluminum., Conclusion: This method is easy to operate and has high accuracy, providing an effective and feasible detection method for the determination and evaluation of element migration in Yixing clay pottery.

Exosomes, a growing focus for liquid biopsies, contain diverse molecular cargos. In particular, exosome metabolites with valuable information have exhibited great potential for improving the efficiency of liquid biopsies for addressing complex medical conditions. In this work, we design the directional growth of Ti-metal-organic frameworks on polar-functionalized magnetic particles. This design facilitates the rapid synergistic capture of exosomes with the assistance of an external magnetic field and additionally synergistically enhances the ionization of their metabolites during mass spectrometry detection. Benefiting from this dual synergistic effect, we identified three high-performance exosome metabolites through the differential comparison of a large number of serum samples from individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and normal cognition. Notably, the accuracy of AD identification ranges from 93.18 to 100% using a single exosome metabolite and reaches a flawless 100% with three metabolites. These findings emphasize the transformative potential of this work to enhance the precision and reliability of AD diagnosis, ushering in a new era of improved diagnostic accuracy.

Micro and nanoplastics (MNPLs) are emergent environmental pollutants, resulting from the degradation of plastic waste, requiring urgent information on their potential risks to human health. To determine such risks, reliable true-to-life materials are essential. In this work, we have used titanium-doped PET NPLs [PET(Ti)NPLs], obtained by grinding opaque milk polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, as a true-to-life MNPLs model. These opaque PET bottles, with an average size of 112 nm, contain about 3% Ti in the form of titanium dioxide rod nanoparticles. TEM investigation confirmed the mixed Ti/PET nature of the obtained true-to-life NPLs, and the rod shape of the embedded TiO 2 NPs. In the in vivo Drosophila model neither PET(Ti)NPLs nor TiO 2 NPs reduced the survival rates, although their internalization was confirmed in different compartments of the larval body by using confocal and transmission electron microscopies. The presence of Ti in the PET(Ti)NPLs permitted to quantify its presence both in larvae (2.1 ± 2.2 μg/g of Ti) and in the resulting adults (3.4 ± 3.2 μg/g of Ti) after treatment with 500 μg/g food of PET(Ti)NPL, suggesting its potential use to track their fate in more complex organisms such as mammals. PET(Ti)NPLs, as well as TiO 2 NPs, altered the expression of genes driving different response pathways, inducing significant oxidative stress levels (up to 10 folds), and genotoxicity. This last result on the genotoxic effects is remarkable in the frame of the hot topic discussion on the risk that titanium compounds, used as food additives, may pose to humans., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)