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Nanosilver Migrated into Food‐Simulating Solutions from Commercially Available Food Fresh Containers
Author(s) -
Huang Yanmin,
Chen Shuxiang,
Bing Xin,
Gao Cuiling,
Wang Tian,
Yuan Bo
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
packaging technology and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.365
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1099-1522
pISSN - 0894-3214
DOI - 10.1002/pts.938
Subject(s) - food packaging , polyethylene , materials science , food science , plastic packaging , chemistry , composite material
Manufacturers of food fresh containers use nanosilver as an antimicrobial agent, but the safe impacts of nanosilver release from commercial products are unknown. The nanoparticles that migrate from the consumer products should be determined to assess the safety and/or risks of nanotechnology. This paper describes experimental work carried out on one kind of commercial food fresh container (polyethylene plastic bags). In the experiments, the range of temperatures was from room temperature (about 25°C) to 50°C, the range of time intervals was from 3 to 15 days, and the bags were filled with four kinds of food‐simulating solutions representing water, acid, alcohol and fatty foods, respectively. Microwave digestion method was used for sample pre‐treatment. The scanning electron microscopy and energy‐dispersive X‐ray (SEM/EDX) analysis was used to confirm the presence and morphology of nanosilver additives, and the atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) analysis was applied, showing that the commercial bags contained 100 μ g (Ag)/g (plastic materials). Strong evidences from SEM/EDX and AAS analyses were found, indicating the migration of nanosilver from the polyethylene bags into food‐simulating solutions. The amount of nanosilver migration was observed as increasing with storage time and temperature. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.