Human exposure assessment of silver and copper migrating from an antimicrobial nanocoated packaging material into an acidic food simulant

摘要

To examine the human exposure to a novel silver and copper nanoparticle (AgNP and CuNP)/ polystyrene-polyethylene oxide block copolymer (PS-b-PEO) food packaging coating, the migration of Ag and Cu into 3% acetic acid (3% HAc) food simulant was assessed at 60 degrees C for 10 days. Significantly lower migration was observed for Ag (0.46 mg/kg food) compared to Cu (0.82 mg/kg food) measured by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). In addition, no distinct population of AgNPs or CuNPs were observed in 3% HAc by nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The predicted human exposure to Ag and Cu was used to calculate a margin of exposure (MOE) for ionic species of Ag and Cu, which indicated the safe use of the food packaging in a hypothetical scenario (e.g. as fruit juice packaging). While migration exceeded regulatory limits, the calculated MOE suggests current migration limits may be conservative for specific nano packaging applications. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.