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REVIEW ARTICLE

Titanium: Metal of the future or an emerging environmental contaminant?

Shailja Sharma1 ,  Shiv Bolan2,3,4 ,  Santanu Mukherjee5* ,  Pingfan Zhou6 ,  Xiaodong Yang6 ,  Jason C. White7 ,  Nubia Zuverza-Mena7 ,  Tao Zhang8 ,  Jianjun Chen9 ,  Qing Xu8 ,  Xiangying Wei10 ,  Shiheng Lyu11 ,  Sandun Sandanayake12 ,  Meththika Vithanage3,12 ,  Kadambot H.M. Siddique3 ,  Nanthi Bolan2,3,4*
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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
9 Mid-Florida Research and Education Center, Environmental Horticulture Department, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Apopka, Florida, United States of America
10 Institute of Oceanography, College of Geography and Oceanography, Minjiang University, Fuzhou, Fujian, People’s Republic of China
11 Department of Laboratory Medicine of the First Affiliated Hospital and Liangzhu Laboratory, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China
12 Ecosphere Resilience Research Centre, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda, Western Province, Sri Lanka
EER, 025130027 https://doi.org/10.36922/EER025130027
Received: 25 March 2025 | Revised: 14 May 2025 | Accepted: 26 May 2025 | Published online: 23 June 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Naturally occurring and anthropogenic sources, such as ore (minerals), waste disposal, and mine tailings, can introduce titanium (Ti) into both soils and aquatic environments. 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 titanite. Among Ti compounds, Ti dioxide (TiO2) is of particular environmental and health concern. It is classified as potentially carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Ti is increasingly used in aviation and aerospace fields and has important biomedical applications, including in joint replacements and dental implants. TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) are one of the most important Ti compounds, entering the environment through various pathways, including biosolid applications, and have been shown to cause deleterious effects on soil microorganisms and, consequently, on soil functioning and health. Excessive Ti uptake can cause toxicity in plants, soil microorganisms, aquatic organisms, animals, and humans. Dust inhalation of TiO2 NPs by humans may cause chest pain, coughing, and breathing difficulty, while dermal contact may cause irritation. To control the main anthropogenic input sources of Ti in the environment, it is critical to develop affordable technologies for Ti removal during wastewater treatment. This comprehensive review examines the presence, sources, biogeochemical behavior, and potential risks of Ti in the environment and provides an in-depth outline of the network visualization bibliography to graphically represent the relationships between key publications, research areas, and authors. Additionally, future research priorities are suggested for the sustainable management of Ti contamination.

Graphical abstract
Keywords
Titanium dioxide
Carcinogen
Biogeochemistry
Human health
Remediation
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
Tao Zhang and Santanu Mukherjee are Editorial Board Members of this journal, but was not in any way involved in the editorial and peer-review process conducted for this paper, directly or indirectly. Separately, other authors declared that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper.
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