More Environmental Insults

Titanium dioxide is a very cheap, very widely used chemical compound. Assumed to be safe. According to new research, however, in nanoparticle form it causes "systemic genetic damage" in mice. The first ever study of titanium dioxide's nanoparticle-induced genotoxicity, undertaken at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, does not look hopeful, with mice showing genetic damage after as few as five days of exposure — nobody, at this point, has any idea what might be the cumulative effect of exposure on humans. Unfortunately, we can't avoid the damn stuff as it's used in everything from cosmetics, to paint, to sunscreen, to vitamins. Another example of how astonishingly stupid it is to rely upon "markets" for consumer safety. Despite the important news I'm extremely skeptical that our political process will catch up to produce any sort of regulation of this or other commercial nanoparticles until we've all been thoroughly poisoned.