Nanoparticle release from nano-silver antimicrobial food containers

Polymer nanocomposites incorporating metal or metal oxide nanoparticles have been developed to improve their characteristics (flexibility, gas barrier properties, antimicrobial or antioxidant properties, etc.). Among them silver nanoparticles are used because of their antimicrobial effect in many daily life materials, i.e. food packaging. However, there is not any reference to the migration of nanoparticles to the food. In this paper the results of migration studies (with different simulant solutions and times) in three commercial nanosilver plastic food containers are shown. Migration solutions were evaluated by ICP–MS and SEM–EDX analysis and silver in dissolved form and silver as nanoparticles were analyzed, a key aspect for the toxicity. Silver migration was observed for all samples studied, with the total silver migration values ranging between 1.66 and 31.46 ng/cm2 (lower than the permissible limits). Size and morphology of the silver nanoparticles changed for the different samples (ranging between 10 and 60 nm) and migration of other nanosized materials was also confirmed.