Friday 1is August 2025, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), based in Luxembourg, judged on appeal that the European Commission was wrong to adopt in 2019 a regulation classifying titanium dioxide (TIO2) as a carcinogenic substance for humans “By inhalation, in the form of powder containing at least 1 % of particles less than or equal to 10 micrometers”, reportsAgency France-Presse (AFP).
This chemical substance, especially used in paintings, medicines or toys, had recently been detected in milk according to work from the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE), Public Assistance Hospitals in Paris (AP-HP), and the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), published on July 23.
A setback for France and the European Commission
This European justice decision confirms a first judgment of the European Union court – one of the two components of the CJEU with the Court – of November 23, 2022, believing that the Commission “Had made a manifest error” By judging reliable a scientific study on which the carcinogenic classification was based. However, the court recognizes that the court “Has exceeded the limits of its jurisdictional control” Because he’s “Did not belong to decide” This debate on the relevance of the specific criteria used. She judges “Nevertheless justified” its cancellation decision, reports theAFP.
The decision marks a setback for France and the European Commission which had appealed at the end of 2022, and a victory for the manufacturers and importers of the titanium dioxide, which challenged this classifications, based on a notice of the risk assessment committee of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) of 2017 and proposed the previous year by the National Agency for Food Safety, Environment and Work (ANSES). The appeal being suspensive, the substance had remained classified carcinogen.
“An important decline in the protection of citizens”
The Foodwatch organization deplores theAFP “An important decline in the protection of citizens and consumers” and a “Unquestionable victory for the powerful industrial lobbies which have put significant pressure on the European authorities”. The latter “Have refused for years to provide the ECHA for information on the nanos forms of the substance, making its work all the more difficult”, Natacha Cingotti point, in charge of campaigns at Foodwatch.
“It is a more regrettable setback in terms of information and protection of workers”because this decision “Remove the danger labeling obligation on tio2 powders”, regretted with theAFP Mathilde Detcheverry, of the Avicenn association, dedicated to the day before and information on nanoparticles.
