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Explora: Environment

and Resource

REVIEW ARTICLE
Titanium: Metal of the future or an emerging

environmental contaminant?

Shailja Sharma 1 , Shiv Bolan 2,3,4 , Santanu Mukherjee * , Pingfan Zhou 6 ,
5
Xiaodong Yang 6 , Jason C. White 7 , Nubia Zuverza-Mena 7 , Tao
Zhang 8 , Jianjun Chen , Qing Xu , Xiangying Wei 10 , Shiheng Lyu , Sandun
9
11
8
Sandanayake 12 , Meththika Vithanage 3,12 , Kadambot H.M. Siddique 3 , and
Nanthi Bolan 2,3,4 *
1 School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Shoolini University of
Biotechnology and Management Sciences, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India
2 UWA School of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western
Australia, Australia
3 The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia,
Australia
4 Healthy Environments and Lives National Research Network, Canberra, Australia
5 School of Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management
Sciences, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India
6 School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
7 Department of Analytical Chemistry, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven,
Connecticut, United States of America
8 Beijing Key Laboratory of Farmland Soil Pollution Prevention-control and Remediation, College of
Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
*Corresponding authors: 9 Mid-Florida Research and Education Center, Environmental Horticulture Department, Institute of
Nanthi Bolan Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Apopka, Florida, United States of America
(nanthi.bolan@uwa.edu.au) 10 Institute of Oceanography, College of Geography and Oceanography, Minjiang University, Fuzhou,
Santanu Mukherjee
(santanu@shooliniuniversity.com) Fujian, People’s Republic of China
11 Department of Laboratory Medicine of the First Affiliated Hospital and Liangzhu Laboratory, School
Citation: Sharma S, Bolan S, of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China
Mukherjee S, et al. Titanium:
Metal of the future or an emerging 12 Ecosphere Resilience Research Centre, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Sri
environmental contaminant? Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda, Western Province, Sri Lanka
Explora Environ Resour.
2025;2(3):025130027.
doi: 10.36922/EER025130027
Received: March 25, 2025 Abstract
Revised: May 14, 2025
Naturally occurring and anthropogenic sources, such as ore (minerals), waste disposal,
Accepted: May 26, 2025 and mine tailings, can introduce titanium (Ti) into both soils and aquatic environments.
Published online: June 23, 2025 Ti is the ninth most abundant element in nature (0.63% w/w) and is found in igneous
rocks. Major Ti-bearing minerals include rutile, brookite, anatase, ilmenite, and
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s).
This is an Open-Access article titanite. Among Ti compounds, Ti dioxide (TiO ) is of particular environmental and
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distributed under the terms of the health concern. It is classified as potentially carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B) by
Creative Commons Attribution the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Ti is increasingly used in aviation
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, and aerospace fields and has important biomedical applications, including in joint
provided the original work is replacements and dental implants. TiO nanoparticles (NPs) are one of the most
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properly cited. important Ti compounds, entering the environment through various pathways,
Publisher’s Note: AccScience including biosolid applications, and have been shown to cause deleterious effects
Publishing remains neutral with on soil microorganisms and, consequently, on soil functioning and health. Excessive
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional Ti uptake can cause toxicity in plants, soil microorganisms, aquatic organisms,
affiliations. animals, and humans. Dust inhalation of TiO NPs by humans may cause chest pain,
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Volume 2 Issue 3 (2025) 1 doi: 10.36922/EER025130027