Development of analytical procedures for the determination of engineered nanomaterials in food by Single-Particle ICP-MS

现在有确凿的证据表明，通过在食品工业中使用纳米技术可以获得实质性的好处。主要应用包括食品加工和食品包装，后者是最活跃的领域。在包装中加入纳米颗粒主要是为了防止食品降解和微生物污染。有利的食品安全法规和对有效包装日益增长的需求预计将在未来几年大幅增加纳米包装市场的重要性(2015年已达到约240亿美元)。然而，工程纳米材料(ENM)对人类健康的影响不可避免地存在一些问题。适当评估对人类健康的风险所需的一个重要缺失输入是严格测量ENM的大小和浓度，一旦它与纳米启用的包装接触，它就会进入食品中。这项工作的总体目标是促进纳米技术在食品科学行业中的更好使用。该项目的中心是开发严格的分析程序，用于检测和表征使用ENM开发的食品和食品包装中含有金属的纳米颗粒。其具体的长期目标是为生产商、卫生专业人员和监管机构提供准确的检测服务，为加拿大消费者带来安全、高质量的产品。为准确测定食品中的ENM和测量其从食品包装中的释放而开发的分析方案将对加拿大人有宝贵的好处。一方面，它将导致对食品和包装工业中使用的纳米材料对人类和环境暴露的更好评估。这将使监管机构能够提高监管和向消费者提出建议的质量，并提高加拿大人的安全和保障。另一方面，它将帮助食品行业生产出更可持续、对人类健康危害更小的创新产品。这将推动以纳米技术为基础的食品包装的更可持续发展的创新。

There is now solid evidence of the substantial benefits that can be gained through the use of nanotechnology in the food industry. The main applications include food processing and food packaging, with the latter being the most active area. The incorporation of nanoparticles into packaging is mainly aimed at preventing food degradation and microbial contamination. Favorable food safety regulations and an increasing demand for effective packaging are expected to substantially increase the importance of the nano-enabled packaging market in coming years (already around $24 billion in 2015). Nonetheless, there are inevitably some questions about the impact of the engineered nanomaterials (ENM) on human health. A significant missing input that is required for appropriately assessing the risks to human heath is the rigorous measurement of the sizes and concentrations of ENM that end up in food once it has been in contact with nano-enabled packaging. The overall goal of this work is to contribute to a better use of nanotechnology in the food science industry. The project is centered around the development of rigorous analytical procedures for detecting and characterizing metal-containing nanoparticles in food and food packaging developed using ENM. Its specific long-term objective is to provide producers, health professionals and regulators with an accurate testing service that would bring safe, high-quality products to Canadian consumers. The development of analytical protocols for the accurate determination of ENM in food and measurements of their release from food packaging will have valuable benefits for Canadians. On one hand, it will lead to better assessments of the human and environmental exposure to the nanomaterials that are used in food and packaging industries. This will allow regulators to improve the quality of regulations and recommendations to consumers and lead to an increased safety and security for Canadians. On the other hand, it will help the food industry produce innovative products that are more sustainable and less harmful for human health. This will drive innovations leading to a more sustainable development of food packaging that is based on nanotechnology.