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Advances and Challenges For The Use of Engineered Nanoparticles in Food Contact Materials
Advances and Challenges For The Use of Engineered Nanoparticles in Food Contact Materials
Advances and Challenges For The Use of Engineered Nanoparticles in Food Contact Materials
Review
Advances and
challenges for the use
of engineered
nanoparticles in food
contact materials
Joseph C. Hannona,
Joseph Kerryb,
Malco Cruz-Romerob,
Michael Morrisc and
Enda Cumminsa,*
a
The use of nanotechnology in the food industry has great potential, particularly in the area of food packaging. This paper
looks at recent advances and industry challenges in relation
to the use of metal and non-metal engineered nanoparticles
(ENPs) in food packaging to grant active and intelligent properties. A particular focus will be placed on risk assessment strategies and policy developments associated with the use of
nanotechnology in food contact materials (FCMs). The
absence of a regulatory framework for NP FCMs has been
highlighted as a drawback for the development of nanoparticle
* Corresponding author.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2015.01.008
0924-2244/ 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Introduction
Currently the worlds population stands at 6.47 billion,
however this is expected to increase to 9.08 billion by
2050 (WPO, 2008). This creates a number of complex
problems, particularly the issue of an adequate food supply.
The worlds food resources are unevenly distributed globally, resulting in the difficult task of preserving food stuffs
to allow for transportation to a wider geographical area.
Food packaging is a common method of preserving food
stuffs, combined with preservatives, temperature and pressure treatments. The advent of materials containing NPs
in the size range 1e100 nm, granting improved properties,
has proven advantageous in a vast number of industries
such as the cosmetics, food and beverage, textile, medical,
electronics and computing, appliances and cooking utensil
industries (Maynard & Michelson, 2014). Emerging food
packaging materials containing ENPs that possess active
and intelligent properties have the potential to alleviate
some of the global food supply issues. These materials
may increase the shelf life of food products, improve
food safety and reduce the amount of food waste due to
spoilage. However, the uptake of novel food packaging materials containing ENPs has been met with concerns in relation to the risk posed to humans from consumption of ENPs
which may migrate from NP food packaging into food
(Kanmani & Rhim, 2014b). This issue is exacerbated by
the immense uncertainty which surrounds the field of NP
human oral toxicity. Advancements in the area of in vivo
mouse toxicity (Park, Bae, et al., 2010; Park, Marsh, &
Dawson, 2010) and in vitro human cell studies (Loh,
Saunders, & Lim, 2012) presenting organ damage and inflammatory responses in mice, and extensive damage to
intracellular organelles in cells have been challenged by a
recent in vivo human toxicity study showing no clinically
significant effects of engineered silver nanoparticles
(EAgNPs) under acute oral dose conditions (Munger
et al., 2014). EAgNPs are silver NPs which exist as a result
of some size reducing process, whether intentional or unintentional. Additionally, contradictions exist concerning the
toxicity of NPs, mainly surrounding the argument that
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J.C. Hannon et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 43 (2015) 43e62
humans are, and have been exposed to quantities of naturally occurring nanoparticles (NONPs) in food and the
environment that would be considered harmful under the
present conservative regulations (Sk, Jaiswal, Paul,
Ghosh, & Chattopadhyay, 2012). A noteworthy distinction
is the disparity between ENPs which are intentionally manufactured to possess enhanced properties and NONPs
which are naturally occurring and unintentional. Currently,
in the literature studies focussing on the presence of
NONPs in food have been limited to a select number of
foods. A study by Sk et al. (2012) confirmed the presence
of carbon NONPs in food products such as bread, jaggery,
corn flakes and biscuits. In their conclusions they noted that
NPs existed in nature long before analytical techniques for
detection of NPs were developed. Similarly, a study by
Yang et al. (2014) found that food grade titanium dioxide
(E171) contained between 17 and 35% nanosized particles.
Another food additive which has been found to contain aggregates with particles <100 nm is silicon dioxide, also
known as synthetic amorphous silica (SAS) or E551 in
the EU (Bouwmeester, Brandhoff, Marvin, Weigel, &
Peters, 2014). It should be noted that although NPs are
naturally and unintentionally present in these foods, the
processes used in their manufacture is a likely cause of
their nano dimensions. Alternatively, the presence of native
casein micelles with a mean diameter of 100 nm in dairy
milk is an example of NONPs that are present in the raw
food material before processing (Trejo, Dokland, JuratFuentes, & Harte, 2011). According to the United Kingdom
Food Safety Authority (UKFSA) products found to contain
NPs would include; ricotta cheese, homogenised milk and
other nanoemulsion formulations of food, such as coenzyme Q10 (UKFSA, n.d.). At present, a lack of suitable
methods to quantify and differentiate between ENPs and
NONPs has resulted in few studies focussing on the presence of NONPs in drinking water and food (Savolainen
et al., 2010). Although recent developments of nanotechnology in the food industry has been great, there are a number of issues which require attention before nano products
can take the place of existing products. This review will
discuss the recent developments in nanocomposite FCMs,
applications and legislations. It will, more specifically,
focus on the risk associated with human exposure to ENP
FCMs through unintentional oral ingestion of ENPs which
may have migrated from FCMs.
Nanomaterials e synthesis and forms
The definition of nanomaterials is constantly developing
with each region having its own set of nano specific definitions. The most recent definition employed by the European
Commission for a nanomaterial is a natural, incidental or
manufactured materials containing particles, in an unbound
state or as an aggregate or as an agglomerate and where,
for 50% or more of the particles in the number size distribution, one or more external dimensions is in the size range
1e100 nm ([EC] European Commission, 2011). Although
the NP upper size limit has been defined as 100 nm, some
authors claim properties of nanomaterials for materials containing particles larger than 100 nm (Busolo, Fernandez,
Ocio, & Lagaron, 2010). Huang et al. (2011) labelled particles in the size range 100e300 nm as nano due to their
novel properties.
Even though nanotechnology is still in its infancy with
regard to research and development, new forms of ENPs
are constantly being uncovered. In industry, emerging NP
technologies are developed for their physicochemical properties and often gain there name from objects of similar geometry with the addition of nano. Some common types of
NPs include; quantom dots, liposomes, carbon nanotubes,
dendrimers, nanobubbles, nanoclusters, functionalized
NPs (Re, Moresco, & Masserini, 2012), nanoplatelets,
nanocrystals, nanofibres, nanowhiskers (Duncan, 2011),
nanocubes, nanomultifacets, nanowires, nanorods (Chen
& Schluesener, 2008), nanospheres, nanoplates, nanotriangles, fullerenes (Guo, Yuan, Lu, & Li, 2013) and nanocapsules (Sato, Quintas, Vincente, & Cunha, 2011).
The synthesis of ENPs is a complex process dominated
by two principal manufacturing categories. Firstly, a Top
down method which involves the reduction of larger particles by some physical or chemical mechanism (Cushen,
Kerry, Morris, Cruz-Romero, & Cummins, 2012). Examples of the Top down method that have been reported
include mechanical milling and homogenisation (Cushen
et al., 2012), laser and vaporisation followed by cooling
(Brody, Bugusu, Han, Sand, & McHugh, 2008), inert-gas
aggregated magnetron sputtering (Cassidy et al., 2013),
etching, electro-explosion and laser ablation (Chaudhry,
Boxall, Aitken, & Hull, 2005). The second known as a
Bottom up method is more complex, as it influences
the assembly of molecules and ions into NPs. Examples
of Bottom up synthesis methods have been reported in
the literature such as the Sol-gel method (Hatat-Fraile,
Mendret, Rivallin, & Brosillon, 2013), biomass reaction
(Gericke & Pinches, 2006), chemical vapour deposition
(Kim, Chung, Youn, & Hwang, 2009), Plasma or flame
spray synthesis (Rudin, Wegner, & Pratsinis, 2013), electromagnetic levitational gas condensation method
(Kermanpur, Rizi, Vaghayenegar, & Ghasemi Yazdabadi,
2009; Mohammadi & Halali, 2014; Vaghayenegar,
Kermanpur, & Abbasi, 2012), supercritical fluid synthesis
(Daschner de Tercero et al., 2013), spinning (Tai, Wang,
Kuo, Chang, & Liu, 2009), templating (Liu, Tao, &
Zhang, 2012; de Matos & Courrol, 2014), self-assembly
(Zhang & Wang, 2014), atomic layer deposition (Gould
et al., 2013), crystallisation (Kong et al., 2011), solvent
extraction and evaporation (Hung, Teh, Jester, & Lee,
2010), and biosynthesis (Mittal, Bhaumik, Kumar, &
Banerjee, 2014). The list of ENP synthesis methods is
constantly growing, with a shift towards eco-friendly synthesis methods such as the solvent reduction and stabilization of Ag colloids using starch and glucose (Cheviron,
Gouanve, & Espuche, 2014).
J.C. Hannon et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 43 (2015) 43e62
45
46
Manufacturer
Country
Stage
NP size
Function
Reference
Ag
Changmin Chemicals
Baby Dream Co., Ltd.
Korea
Korea
on market
on market
not disclosed
not disclosed
Antimicrobial
Antimicrobial
BlueMoonGoods
USA
on market
not disclosed
Antimicrobial
SharperImage
USA
on market
25 nm & 1e100 nm
Antimicrobial
China
on market
not disclosed
Antimicrobial
Korea
on market
not disclosed
Antibacterial
Oso Fresh
Kinetic Go Green
USA
USA
on market
on market
40-60 nm
10-20 nm
Antimicrobial
Antimicrobial
Lexon, Inc.
SongSing Nano Technology.,
Ltd.
Mondelez International
USA
Taiwan
on market
on market
not disclosed
not disclosed
Antmicrobial
Barrier & antimicrobial
USA
on market
110 nm
Colouring (E171)
Colormatrix
InMat Inc.
USA
USA
not disclosed
on market
not disclosed
not disclosed
Barrier
Barrier
RBCs
USA
on market
not disclosed
Nanoencapsulation
Bayer
Honeyells
Nanocor (distributed by
Colormatrix)
Aqua Nova
USA
USA
USA
on market
on market
on market
1 nm - 1 mm
not disclosed
not disclosed
Barrier
Oxygen scavenging
Barrier
Germany
on market
30 nm
Nanoencapsulation
Biopharma
Plantic Technologies Ltd.
USA
Australia
on market
on market
not disclosed
not disclosed
Encapsulation
Biodegradability
(Biopharma., 2012)
(Han, Yu, Li, & Wang, 2011)
Au
ZnO
TiO2
TiN
MMT
SiO2
Clay
Micelle
Liposome
Corn starch
J.C. Hannon et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 43 (2015) 43e62
NP type
J.C. Hannon et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 43 (2015) 43e62
47
material. However, this benefit is overshadowed by the additional manufacturing processes and potential for significantly greater migration, which could possibly shift the
food industries preference towards ENP polymer composite
packaging.
The method employed to produce ENP polymer composites is greatly influenced by the function of the packaging in a specific application. There are two key
approaches for producing ENP packaging which include;
ENP surface coatings or inclusion of ENPs within the polymer packaging. Table 2 includes a non-exhaustive list of
some of the methods used to manufacture ENP composites.
Due to superior ENP immobilization, direct addition of
ENPs into polymer packaging has been subject to more
research than ENP coating methods. Only two studies
have dealt with the attachment mechanisms of ENPs to
the surface of food packaging (Nobile et al., 2004;
Smirnova et al., 2012). As a result, substantial gaps in
knowledge exists regarding the use of surface coatings in
food packaging and the associated human risk assessment.
Due to the existing popularity of polymers for use in
food packaging applications, polymers make a suitable substrate for the incorporation of ENPs. Moreover, polymers
offer a means of ENP immobilization, preventing aggregation and uncontrollable release (Guo et al., 2013). The material properties, low cost and ease of manufacture of
certain polymers make them increasingly popular for food
packaging applications. Polyolefins are popular food packaging materials which include polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene
(PS) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) (Duncan, 2011). Adding
NPs to these polymers as well as bio-polymers such as polylactic acid (PLA) has been a focus of many studies (see
Table 3), with an aim of assisting the uptake of ENP food
packaging on the global food market. Although research
focus has mainly centred on the incorporation of ENPs
into biodegradable packaging, it is important that polyolefin nanocomposites are not ignored based on their environmental impact. Incorporating ENPs into polyolefin
packaging has the potential to minimize the material
required for the packaging to perform successfully in use,
NP type
Size
Matrix
Electrospinning
Antimicrobial
ZnO
30 nm
Chitosan film
Improved properties
MMT
Not stated
Gelatin film
Solution casting
Solvent evaporation
Twin screw extrusion
Spray coating
Immersion/reaction
Reactive magnetron
sputtering
Automatic spreading
Author(s)
(Vanin et al.)
48
Detection method
Food simulant
Parameters tested
Reference
Ag/s-CNC
PLA
ICP-MS Analytical-balance
10% ethanolIsooctane
Ag/Zeolite
PE
Cu & Ag
Ag/ZnO
PE
LDPE
ICP-MS SEM
ICP-MS
Ag/s-CNC
PLA
ICP-MS Analytical-balance
Chicken breast
10% ethanol 3% acetic acid
Distilled water Olive oil
10% ethanol Isooctane
Ag
PVC
ICP-MS SEM
Chicken breast
Ag
PE
ICP-MS
Ag
Ag
LDPE PP
PE
ICP-MS SEM
ICP-MS TEM AFM
Ag
Ag
PE
PE
ICP-MS RSD
AAS SEM (EDX capabilities)
Ag
PP
ICP-MS
Ag/MMT
MMT
Ag
PLA
Starch based biopolymers
PP HDPE
Ag & Zn
LDPE
TEM AAS
Orange juice
% Fill rate
Al & Si
Cu
PET
PLA-acetone
3% acetic acid
Saline solution
J.C. Hannon et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 43 (2015) 43e62
NPs
J.C. Hannon et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 43 (2015) 43e62
due to the improved structural and thermal properties imparted by the ENPs (Silvestre et al., 2011).
ENPs are commonly immobilized within polymer packaging using two methods; formation of particles and/or
polymer in situ or attachment of particles and polymer in
their final state (Yang, 2003). In situ methods that involve
incorporation of ENPs into liquid polymers, include spin
coating and casting methods. When the polymer is a solid,
ENPs can be formed by a reduction of ions. An example of
this reduction process may be the formation of EAgNPs using silver nitrate (AgNO3) as a precursor (Cushen, Kerry,
Morris, Cruz-Romero, & Cummins, 2014a). Attaching the
ENPs and polymer in their solid state is a more complex
process. Nanocomposites can be formed using a combination of casting followed by solvent evaporation. Alternatively, ENPs in powder form can be added to an extrusion
process. More complex methods of creating nanocomposites include diffusion and synthesis of ENPs and polymer
in situ. The method employed often determines the concentration and distribution of the ENPs within the polymer.
ENP surface coatings for food packaging applications is
an area which has, until recently, been neglected as a result
of intensified ENP migration and the absence of commercially viable manufacturing methods. Nevertheless, due to
the substantial benefits linked to ENP surface coatings, there
needs to be a greater emphasis on research and development
in this area. Applying ENPs to a packaging surface has an
advantage of increasing the antimicrobial function of the
ENPs as there is more reactive surface area in contact with
foodstuff allowing greater Ag ion migration. However, the
ENPs position makes them more susceptible to migration.
Guo et al. (2013) reviewed methods of applying polymer
coatings containing ENPs to surfaces in order to benefit
from antibacterial properties. The inclusion of a polymer
in the coating process highlights the poor attachment characteristics of certain ENPs. Further methods of ENP attachment with improved immobilization exist and have been
considered for other industries such as the biomedical
(Roguska, Pisarek, Andrzejczuk, & Lewandowska, 2014),
energy and electronic industries (Kim, Lee, & Maeng,
2009). Therefore, it would be counter-productive to reject
surface coating methods based on factors such as attachment
which can be improved.
A simple method of creating nanocomposites for antimicrobial application is via spray coating. Currently, the only
study which has used spray coatings to coat ENPs to food
packaging was carried out by Smirnova et al. (2012). A
study by Nobile et al. (2004) used a plasma technique to
coat EAgNPs in a polyethylenoxide-like coating on polyethylene food/beverage packaging. Despite this technique
being considered for biomedical applications (Favia et al.,
2000), this is the first time it has been proposed for application in food packaging. An emerging technology for
incorporation of ENPs onto surfaces with improved immobilization is by means of a Self-Assembling Block Copolymer. The process involves self-assembly of uniform
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J.C. Hannon et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 43 (2015) 43e62
51
applied to ENP food packaging, the level of exposure to humans from ingestion of NPs is determined via migration
studies and in vivo toxicity studies. If an acceptable level
of risk is observed it is then the responsibility of the governing authority to allow or disallow the use of the product.
A recent success of this process was the acceptance on TiN
ENPs by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for
use in PET bottles in concentrations up to 20 mg/kg
(EFSA, 2012). The function of TiN ENPs is to improve
the oxygen barrier properties of the walls of the PET
container that they are incorporated into. Excellent containment of the TiN NPs within the walls of the PET containers
may be a unique aspect of the migration mechanism which
is not shared by other NPs which require some level of
migration to carry out their function. NPs such as EAgNPs
must migrate in the form of Ag ions to allow for their antimicrobial function, while complying with the migration
limits set out by the European Commission (EFSA, 2008;
European Commission, 2011). Therefore a compromise
must be made between the level of migration and antimicrobial activity.
Exposure assessment models
Frequently, substances that are considered harmful to
humans may not exist in high enough doses to pose any
real risk to humans. Mathematical exposure models provide
a method for quantifying the risk posed to humans from
NPs. Using the results from NP migration studies as an
input to an exposure model, the associated risk from NPs
can be predicted based on the scenario surrounding their
use. Two common scenarios are often identified for human
exposure to ENPs, the worst case scenario (wcs) and the
most likely scenario (mls) (Cushen, Kerry, Morris, CruzRomero, & Cummins, 2013). The mls is an exposure value
based on the most probable intake of a substance obtained
from migration studies and survey data. The wcs involves
the greatest exposure to ENPs possible, based on exaggerated migration and consumption data. To produce a human
exposure model suitable toxicity studies, migration studies
and consumer data must be available. Given the lack of
in vivo toxicity studies for exposure to ENPs, it is necessary
to adapt non-nano rodent oral toxicity studies and apply a
safety factor. Only four human exposure models are
currently available in the literature that quantifies the risk
posed to humans from oral exposure to ENPs which have
migrated from food packaging (Bachler, von Goetz, &
Hungerbuhler, 2013; Cushen et al., 2013, 2014a; von
Goetz et al., 2013; Smirnova et al., 2012). In each study
a mathematical model is generated to predict the potential
migration and resulting migrant amounts are compared to
actual migration results. The resulting migrant quantities
are then coupled with consumer data to generate a model
that predicts the risk posed to humans from oral exposure.
von Goetz et al. (2013) observed worst case acute exposure
of 4.2 mg EAgNPs caused by storage of 100 ml of food simulant in an EAgNP food container. Although this could be
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J.C. Hannon et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 43 (2015) 43e62
53
Nanoparticle migration
Migration refers to the release of a substance from one
medium to another. Following Ficks first law of diffusion,
the substance will migrate due to a concentration gradient
between both mediums (Simon et al., 2008). If there are
no ENPs present in the food, any ENPs that are loosely
bound in the food packaging will migrate from the packaging to the food. This occurs due to the lower concentration of ENPs in the food which drives migration. Factors
that affect migration include temperature, time, concentration gradient, material properties, migrant position in the
material and the interaction between the migrant and material. The migration potential and diffusion mechanisms for
ENPs from food packaging materials is an area of nanotechnology which has not received the same attention as
such areas as nano-aerosols (Savolainen et al., 2010),
nano-fluids (Mohammed, Al-aswadi, Shuaib, & Saidur,
2011) and nano-medicines (Lehner, Wang, Marsch, &
Hunziker, 2013).
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J.C. Hannon et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 43 (2015) 43e62
Depending on the desired outcome of the study, migration can be determined in terms of an overall migration
limit (OML) or a specific migration limit (SML). An overall migration study is used to clarify that no packaging additive or contaminant migrates from the packaging to food.
Specific migration studies involve the analysis of a particular migrant from packaging. With a focus on presenting
a worst case migration scenario as well as a most likely scenario, multiple packaging and environmental factors have
been investigated; mainly storage time, storage temperature, ENP percentage fill and ENP size. Natural light has
the potential to degrade polymers via photo-oxidation and
increase migration of substances from those polymers in
applications involving long term exposure (Kumar,
Depan, Singh Tomer, & Singh, 2009). However, due to
the short exposure period for food packaging in service it
is unlikely that natural light will cause significant deterioration and have any effect on migration. Few studies have
considered the increased migration from packaging in scenarios of repeated use (von Goetz et al., 2013). This is surprising given the number of studies which have determined
the migration from reusable food storage containers such as
lunch boxes and re-sealable bags. Directive 10/2011/EEC
(European Commission (EU), 2011) states that for articles
destined for repeated use, three repeated migration tests
should be carried out using a fresh food simulant sample after each repetition. Disregarding such conditions could
potentially lead to underestimated migration levels.
The use of combinations of ENPs in packaging films has
been found to affect the migratability of substances. In
studies on PLA modified with pristine CNC and including
EAgNPs, it was found that the migration of Ag was faster
in the samples that had been modified with the CNC nanocrystals (Fortunati et al., 2013). The inclusion of the modified nanofiller with a high affinity for PLA consequently
resulted in higher Ag ion mobility and increased migration.
Studies are also available which focus on the detection of
Ag ion migration specifically and not ENP migration
(Kumar, Howdle, & Munstedt, 2005; Martnez-Abad,
Ocio, Lagaron, & Sanchez, 2013; Fernandez, Soriano,
Hernandez-Munoz, & Gavara, 2010). Given the number
of migration studies to date, it is remarkable that no framework has been generated to deal with the migration of
ENPs from food packaging materials. This could be attributed to a lack of applicable numerical models or the rapid
development of ENP polymer composites for food packaging applications.
Mathematical migration models
In terms of migration modelling, a mathematical model
provides an analytical formula containing a compact relationship between relevant variables in a system. Numerical
models are applied in situations where mathematical
models cannot be solved analytically and involve an iterative computational procedure (Barnes & Chu, 2010). Mathematical and numerical models can be highly beneficial
J.C. Hannon et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 43 (2015) 43e62
when used for ENP migration modelling as they can produce comparable migration results, for a range of different
system conditions. There is the potential for mathematical
and numerical models to be used as an alternative for costly
and time consuming migration studies. Currently there is
only one mathematical model (Simon et al., 2008) which
focusses specifically on ENP migration from polymer
food packaging to food. Simon et al. (2008) presented general equations for the migratability, diffusion rate and
amount of migrating particles. The type of ENP was not accounted for. Instead the size of the ENP and the viscous
properties of the polymer were used. The interphase between the packaging and food was assumed to present no
obstacle to the migration of ENPs. The wide-ranging applications of the mathematical model are a significant advantage, giving an insight into the probability of ENPs
migrating from popular polyolefin packaging materials.
However, neglecting specific characteristics of ENPs on a
case-by-case basis has the potential to cause errors in the
results. There are a number of mathematical models which
deal with migrants which are of nanoscale dimensions such
as monomers (Helmroth, Rijik, Dekker, & Jongen, 2002;
Lickly, Rainey, Burgert, Breder, & Borodinsky, 1997).
Helmroth et al. (2002) presents a critical review of existing
migration models for regulatory purposes. ENPs are not
specifically mentioned in the review, however, certain polymer monomers are listed as possible migrants which are of
nanoscale size. Deterministic, stochastic and worst case
mathematical models were critically reviewed on the basis
of migration prediction. They concluded that although
mathematical models allowed for cost and time saving
when compared to experimental migration studies, it is still
necessary to confirm migration quantities with experimental studies. Similarly, Lickly et al. (1997) examines
the limitations of mathematical models dealing with the
migration of acrylonitrile and styrene monomers from
food packaging materials (Lickly et al., 1997). From the
migration predictions an estimate of US consumer exposure
to both monomers was created. Assuming that ENPs follow
the laws of Fickian diffusion, models generally dealing
with the diffusion of additives and contaminants could be
applied to ENP diffusion. Mathematical models have
been used to model the migration of phenolic antioxidants
from polypropylene (Hamdani, Feigenbaum, & Vergnaud,
1997) and general food additives and contaminants from
food packaging films (Chung, Papadakis, & Yam, 2002).
Fortunati et al. (2013) calculated the diffusion coefficients
for PLA modified with s-CNC nanocrystals with nanosilver
using the migration model described by Chung et al. (2002)
showing the broad applicability of the model.
Numerical migration models
Numerical models dealing with ENP migration from
packaging to food are lacking. To date, a numerical model
presented by von Goetz et al. (2013) is the only model
which deals with ENP migration from food packaging.
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J.C. Hannon et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 43 (2015) 43e62
Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of the current status of food contact material legislation in the European Union.
J.C. Hannon et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 43 (2015) 43e62
57
mathematical or numerical models for NP migration prediction from the surface of packaging. Similarly, no human
exposure models or frameworks exists for packaging ENP
surface coatings. Although the European Commission
have imposed strict regulations on the migration of unauthorized contaminants from FCMs in applications involving
particularly susceptible persons, no studies have focused on
applications such as infant FCMs.
Following the recent release of the FACET exposure tool
it has become apparent that a similar framework specific to
ENPs would be highly beneficial to industry, consumers
and regulatory bodies. A framework would allow for the
amalgamation of data from the multiple fragmented migration and toxicity studies, establishing a footing for the safe
uptake of ENP polymer composites in the food packaging
industry.
Acknowledgements
This work was funded under the Food Institutional
Research Measure (FIRM) as administered by the Irish
Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Project
no. 11/F/038).
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