Do we need new regulations for food contact nanomaterials?

Manufacturer:We understand that some polymer packaging materials for food are incorporated with nano-sized additives. Are these new products really safe? What about food handling gloves with similar additives? Are existing regulations adequate to control these materials?

JohnWoon:Everybody knows that nanomaterials industry is fast-growing and is currently working mostly within the scope of existing national regulations. We also know that such regulations have been developed for traditional materials and not nanomaterials.

Despite chemical similarity, nanoparticles could behave quite differently from their regular counterparts due to their very small size, for instance, nano-sized Zinc oxide is expected to behave differently from the normal Zinc oxide i.e. they must therefore be classified as new materials and treated as such.

In short, many experts believe that the existing national or international standards and regulations might not be adequate to control the new materials.

I understand that the UK government is in the process of testing PET bottles and other packaging materials incorporated with nanoclay to improve the impact resistance or nano-sized antibacterial silver particle to prevent and control bacterial growth.

Some of the tests include the assessing of the migrating behavior of these additives and the determination of how leachable they are. I hope they are also studying the toxicity aspect as well.

Critics of nanotechnology are expressing the potential toxicity of these nanosubstances that could adversely affect the stability of cell membranes or disturb the immune system when inhaled, digested or absorbed through the skin. The concern is that by being reduced to the nano-scale, materials become more reactive and therefore potentially more toxic.

The same argument should be applicable to similarly compounded latex products coming in contact with food such as food handling gloves.

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