Health Issues Concerning Carbon-TiO2 Nanomaterials Produced by Flame Synthesis

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) can be considered as one of the most used materials in the modern era, since it is suitable for a large number of applications in several different fields [1]. Concerning personal care products area, a widespread application is physical filter for sunscreen, since titania nanoparticles are able to absorb both UVB and UVA radiations, and they can eliminate of the natural opacity of microsized sunscreen without reducing UV blocking efficacy. A fundamental requirement for using titania in sunscreens and other personal care products is photostability. Under UV illumination in aqueous media, photoactive TiO2 can induce the formation of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), which are responsible of skin DNA and RNA damages (Hirakawa et al., 2004). In this work, pure titania nanopowder and carbon-titania nanopowder were produced by flame synthesis and characterized to investigate the possible reduced health effects given by the addition of carbon to titania nanopowder.