In 2016, the competent French authority submitted to the European Chemicals Agency. a proposal to classify titanium dioxide as a carcinogenic substance. The following year, EU Commission adopted Regulation 2020/2017 (14 ATP to CLP) as a consequence of RAC opinion. classifying titanium dioxide as a category 2 carcinogen.
Chemical entities brought actions before the General Court for the partial annulment of Regulation 2020/217. In the judgment, the Court annuls the contested regulation in so far as it concerns the harmonised classification and labelling of titanium dioxide. in the form of a powder with 1% or more of particles with an aerodynamic diameter not exceeding 10 μm.
The General Court recognised that RAC committed. a manifest error of the assessment and found that the contested classification and labelling infringed the criterion according to which the classification of a substance as carcinogenic can apply only to a substance that has the intrinsic property to cause cancer.
This decision is very important for the industry, because titanium dioxide is commonly used in the production of paints and coatings, plastics, paper, as well as in the cosmetics industry for sunscreen cosmetics. It can be found in paper, cosmetics, medicines, medical supplies and food products.