Overview on the safety of commercial products containing metallic nanoparticles in the food sector / Seguridad de los productos comerciales que contienen nanopartículas metálicas en el sector alimentario

The objective of this work was to highlight the importance of testing in a realistic way, metallic nanoparticles-based products, used in the food sector in order to provide representative data for a realistic and accurate risk assessment. To this end we give a brief overview of the current use and applications of metallic nanoparticles in the food industry, how the toxicological evaluations of nanoparticles in food should be performed and how nanoparticles-based products are regulated worldwide. This brief overview work provides a picture of the latest issues on the safety evaluation of metallic nanoparticles in the food sector and identifies also some major points that are important to take into consideration for future studies

El objetivo de este trabajo fue resaltar la importancia de analizar de forma realista los productos que contienen nanopartículas metálicas utilizados en el sector alimentario a fin de proporcionar datos representativos para una evaluación de riesgos realista y precisa. Con este fin, presentamos una breve descripción del uso y de las aplicaciones actuales de las nanopartículas metálicas en la industria alimentaria, cómo deben realizarse sus evaluaciones toxicológicas en los alimentos y cómo están regulados los productos de nanopartículas a nivel internacional. Este breve trabajo general proporciona una visión de los problemas más actuales sobre la evaluación de la seguridad de las nanopartículas metálicas en el sector alimentario e identifica también algunos puntos importantes a tener en cuenta para futuros estudios

[Overview on the safety of commercial products containing metallic nanoparticles in the food sector]. / Overview on the safety of commercial products containing metallic nanoparticles in the food sector.

The objective of this work was to highlight the importance of testing in a realistic way, metallic nanoparticles-based products, used in the food sector in order to provide representative data for a realistic and accurate risk assessment. To this end we give a brief overview of the current use and applications of metallic nanoparticles in the food industry, how the toxicological evaluations of nanoparticles in food should be performed and how nanoparticles-based products are regulated worldwide.This brief overview work provides a picture of the latest issues on the safety evaluation of metallic nanoparticles in the food sector and identifies also some major points that are important to take into consideration for future studies.

El objetivo de este trabajo fue resaltar la importancia de analizar de forma realista los productos que contienen nanopartículas metálicas utilizados en el sector alimentario a fin de proporcionar datos representativos para una evaluación de riesgos realista y precisa. Con este fin, presentamos una breve descripción del uso y de las aplicaciones actuales de las nanopartículas metálicas en la industria alimentaria, cómo deben realizarse sus evaluaciones toxicológicas en los alimentos y cómo están regulados los productos de nanopartículas a nivel internacional. Este breve trabajo general proporciona una visión de los problemas más actuales sobre la evaluación de la seguridad de las nanopartículas metálicas en el sector alimentario e identifica también algunos puntos importantes a tener en cuenta para futuros estudios.

Toxic effects of colloidal nanosilver in zebrafish embryos.

A variety of consumer products containing silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) are currently marketed. However, their safety for humans and for the environment has not yet been established and no standard method to assess their toxicity is currently available. The objective of this work was to develop an effective method to test Ag NP toxicity and to evaluate the effects of ion release and Ag NP size on a vertebrate model. To this aim, the zebrafish animal model was exposed to a solution of commercial nanosilver. While the exposure of embryos still surrounded by the chorion did not allow a definite estimation of the toxic effects exerted by the compound, the exposure for 48 h of 3-day-old zebrafish hatched embryos afforded a reliable evaluation of the effects of Ag NPs. The effects of the exposure were detected especially at molecular level; in fact, some selected genes expressed differentially after the exposure. The Ag NP toxic performance was due to the combined effect of Ag(+) ion release and Ag NP size. However, the effect of NP size was particularly detectable at the lowest concentration of nanosilver tested (0.01 mg l(-1)) and depended on the solubilization media. The results obtained indicate that in vivo toxicity studies of nanosilver should be performed with ad hoc methods (in this case using hatched embryos) that might be different depending on the type of nanosilver. Moreover, the addition of this compound to commercial products should take into consideration the Ag NP solubilization media.