Fig. 1

Abilities of foodborne TiO₂ to translocate across the human barriers. A–G Wild type female mice have been exposed to TiO₂ (9 mg/Kg of BW/Day) during the perinatal period including gestational and lactating periods. Then pregnant and lactating females exposed to TiO₂ or not, have been sacrificed and the concentrations of Ti in embryos (A; gestational day 20), pup’s organs (B–D; postnatal day 12) and in female organs (E–G; end of the weaning day 30), have been monitored by ICP-MS. H The concentrations of titanium have been determined by ICP-MS in regular food pellet and in tap water before and after the addition of TiO₂ foodborne to reach the exposure dose: 9 mg of TiO₂/kg of body weight/day. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM and were analysed by Student’s t-test. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001 versus control group. At least n = 3 per group