This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
The Future is Gray
Years ago I got involved with financing a Titanium Dioxide plant in Brazil. I’ve had an eye on this commodity ever since. What I find interesting about TiO2 (“TD”) is that everything that you look at that is white has this stuff in it. From pills to food to paper to paint, if it’s white, it’s TD.
Demand for this stuff has been on a tear; rising at ~20% a year. World consumption is 2 pounds of ‘white’ per person. That’s the average for all 7 billion of us. The western countries consume about 8 pounds per person. China is just up to 1 pound. That’s where the demand is coming from. (The US uses the most TD, about 9 pounds per person)
Prices are going through the roof; up 38% this year. The raw material, rutile, has seen its price rise by a whopping 77%. Demand is projected to increase another 50% in 2012 (Link). The price has nowhere to go but up (Blame China for everything).
There are some similarities between the TD story and RE minerals. Neither of them are rare (there’s 100Xs more titanium on the earth than copper). The problem is that making the stuff (REs or TiO2) is a nasty process (both have to be boiled in sulfuric acid).
The raw material for TD is found in beach sand. The areas where there is currently significant production include South Africa, Australia , Canada and China. (There may be a new monster find in Paraguay. (Link) The manufacturing process stinks (literally).
Is this a big deal? Here's another example of a “scarce” commodity that everyone uses. It’s another one that China is driving the supply and the pricing. I don’t think it will move the needle much on the broader inflation numbers. As the price keeps rising they will just put less TD in things.
So look forward to gray toilette paper/toothpaste. Newspapers too. Paint will get much more expensive, meaning we’ll paint less; our white houses (and White House) will get gray with age.
There might be a bright side to the coming graying. We may end up living longer. PD has long been considered a carcinogen. OSHA has warnings for those who work in plants that make the stuff. California put it on its list of carcinogenic substances earlier this year.
Bendicte Trouiller a UCLA molecular biologist studied TD on rats. Some conclusions from her efforts:
Consuming the nano-titanium dioxide was damaging or destroying the rats' DNA and chromosomes. The biological havoc continued as she repeated the studies again and again. It was a significant finding: The degrees of DNA damage and genetic instability can be "linked to all the big killers of man, namely cancer, heart disease, neurological disease and aging.
If you’re wondering if you our eating/drinking this stuff, you are. Follows is a list where TD may be found. The bad news is that TD is in beer, wine and “distilled spirituous alcoholic beverages.” (I don’t give a damn. I’ll have my share of those spirituous beverages). The good news is that a traditional Thanksgiving meal contains very little TD.
Enjoy your feast!
BK
..
Much of the info in this piece comes from this Bloomberg story. (link)
»
- advertisements -
What's that girls phone number?!
I brew the beer I drink Bruce, but thanks for diggin this up.
Most people know that White = Poison
White bread, rice, sugar, potato/starch, jeez
I went to WalMart and looked for toothpaste? All they had was formulas for WHITE TEETH. I left without buying anything, my teeth are yellow. Gotta be careful, ya know?
Ivory is a polite way of saying 'tuskers are an elephant's best friend'. Not Pepsodent.
SwingForce
Brush w/ Arm & Hammer(any decent brand)Baking soda, and rinse w/Hydrogen peroxide.
Try w/out brushing, just rinsing w/HP,and let it sit in your mouth for a few minutes,your teeth wil be 2-3 shades whiter just from that.Also, look at your gumlines after spitting it out.............it's eating the tartar, and left over particles of food that you missed.(after brushing).
DO not swallow it.
Also, for thoise not concerned or on salt restricted diiets, Sodium Bicarb) is (IMHO ) the BEST reliever for acidity, and /or uset stomachs.
One level teasoon, give it a 30mins or so, relief not 100%, do it again.
And its CHEAP.
15# bag of Arm & Hammer at Costco, was $5.60.
This stuff has more uses than you can count.
Pour some on your battery cables ,terminals in your vehicle(add just enough water to get it wet) and watch it eat the acid/corrosion(DO not get it into the CELLS!!).
Add, rinse, repeat.......best to do before remving them to clean inside clamps, and then slap some more on when finshed.(damp).
It is reallly good stuff, however the Arm and Hammer variety contains Alluminum. They don't put it on the packaging, but if you want alluminum free Baking soda you have to buy the kind taht says Alluminum free.
You are a product racists, white potatoes are just as good as red ones (grin)
Toothpaste is mostly silica (tiny little fossils), sugar or sorbitol or saccharin, some crap to gel it and fluoride (which is toxic) There is Titanium Dioxide in the mix, but its not listed as an active ingredient, it is in the inactive ingredients list.
Old school tootpaste was baking powder and salt, if you've got a sack of food grade diatomecous earth lying around, you could throw a bit of that in the mix, its the same silica thats used in mainstream toothpaste.
Whitening toothpastes just contain more abrasives to polish your teeth, too much polishing and you rub a hole in the enamel, next step cavityville.
Silica is the abrasive, a little goes a long way. Also makes a nice polish for stainless steel sinks and pots and pans.
Use a little less toothpaste and include a cap full of hydrogen peroxide when you brush. It will foam up and does a good job. It will whiten a lot better than the other toothpaste,
Isn't diatomecous earth also sold to kill bugs like roaches? They rub against it and it cracks their exoskeletons or something???
Good for delousing chickens. Same idea.
Not too good to breathe, though.
We use it on all of our produce. Works great for aphids in your greenhouse/garden.
I'm trying guinea hens next. Everything else (natural) I've tried on aphids has failed.
Good comment stream here if preparation for TEOTWAWKI is on your mind.
Stay away from those deodorants too, ya know ?
tiO2 was the catalyst of all catalysts. Ziegler natta...the mother catalyst of all polymer reactions. We wouldn't have all these plastics w/o TD.
Seriously, you can keep the milk just give me the milk maid...
Use in nano tech is new to me. The maid turned black swan when she went down that route.
chinese gray is the new american white?
INTERESTING ARTICLE ! .. and You are right .. i recall having read Titanium Dioxide on many content declarations in the markets and groceries etc . Ill avoid such items from now on .. I prefer to be grey n healthy ...:)
Happy T-Day to you too, Bruce!
Thanks for the image of Bwaney Fwank boiling in sulfuric acid - made my day!
after reading the list of foods TD has been added into, it looks like all that's left to eat is a cock sandwich
hold the bread. I'm going hungry, forever.
I don't see McRibs or Dr. Pepper cherry cola on the list. I'm fine.
This reminds me of an old The Onion story, "Salt is Good for You This Week, Say Researchers".
Remember Nerve Gas smells like new mown grass.
I had heard that said of phosgene, though I have never experienced it.
Nerve Gas is usually a phosphonium compound, like Malathion. It stinks like rotten cabbage.
huh.. so does mono-hydrazine. F-15's and 16's use it in their APUs.
We were briefed about the smell so we would know if we were going to die in the next minute or so.
if you can't hear it, see it, or taste it, it will usually kill you
what about plastic paints? polyurethaine?
http://expose2.wordpress.com
"if you can't hear it, see it, or taste it, it will usually kill you"
Damned Oxygen! I've been preachin' about its evils for years - only to have it fall on deaf ears!
You'd be surprised: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_toxicity
All in all, toxicity is primarily a matter of dosage: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication
+ U-235
Oh, you mean like the New World Order?
Hmmmmm. . . . . .