How Long Have We Been Eating Nanoparticles?

(NHI Nanoblog) Consumer and health advocates have consistently raised questions about the potential addition of ultra-tiny materials to boost the flavor, texture or freshness of food. But what if nanoparticles are already in what we’re eating?

A group of Indian scientists found carbon nanoparticles in a variety of products that contain ​“food caramels” — everyday eats like bread, corn flakes and biscuits. Their paper was recently published online in the journal Scientific Reports.

“Arguably; this discovery revealed that human consumption of nanomaterials in the form of food caramels has its history possibly from the period when humans for the first time started eating bread,” the authors write.

That means, they argue, that these types of nanoparticles could be considered safe, and potentially used for scientific and medical applications in lieu of other super-small particles that could be more problematic.

“It is interesting to note that for centuries these caramels containing CNPs have been consumed by human beings with no known toxicity and thus it can be considered to have no or minimum risk on human health and may be used as a safe nanomaterial,” the paper says.

Nanotechnology is a broad term that encompasses a wide variety of uses of very small materials (a nanometer is a billionth of a meter). These substances can make better batteries or lighter and stronger bike frames, as well as new medical instruments and medicines that can save lives. They’re increasingly common in consumer products, from ​“mineral-based” sunscreens to stain-repellent pants to boat paints that resist algae growth.

Nanomaterials are believed to hold great promise for a wide variety of applications. Their ultra-tiny size also gives them different properties; scientists are struggling to figure out whether that can make them dangerous in the process, and how and why it happens.

This new paper is sure to augment what’s already an intense discussion about engineered nanoparticles versus naturally-occurring ones. This isn’t the first time scientists have discovered nanoparticles existing without laboratory involvement. We know that gasoline and diesel exhaust contains carbon nanoparticles. Last year, researchers found that larger-scale silver objects, such as knives and forks, ​“shed” nanosilver particles.

But these studies raise big questions: Is there a naturally-occurring balance that might be disrupted by adding more of these small materials to the environment, or our bodies? Researchers have found, for example, that polystyrene nanoparticles affect changes in the guts of chickens, thought to be a good proxy for human intestines.

Advocacy groups have raised red flags for several years. Food companies have done little to showcase what they’re working on — or what’s already on the market.

Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a ​“draft guidance” for industry that basically said that nano-enabled additives won’t be automatically considered safe, even if a larger-sized version of the substance has already been approved. These new guidelines are mostly predicated on manufacturers discussing what they’re doing with the regulatory agency.

The presence of carbon nanoparticles in hamburger buns only illustrates the depth and complexity of the challenge for policymakers, in the U.S. and internationally, in ultimately deciding what’s ​“safe” and what might not be.

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