ABSTRACT
Several types of nanomaterials are currently subject to discussion of potential health hazards and risks associated with their use, and corresponding testing programs have been initiated (e.g., OECD 2010). Silver nanoparticles might have found their way into the largest number of practical applications including consumer products. For the 1,628 products claiming to employ nanotechnology that are listed in the online inventory of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS) Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) (WWICS 2013), the most often identied nanomaterial is silver. Twenty-four percent, or a total of 383 products supposedly contained nanosilver (WWICS 2013a). Furthermore, often employed materials include titanium/titanium dioxide in 179 products, carbon in 87 products, silicon dioxide in 52 products, zinc/zinc oxide in 36 products, and gold in 19 products. This inventory is the most comprehensive, freely accessible database to date. It lists products available to consumers, which claim to employ nanotechnology, many of which do not identify a nanomaterial. On the German site www.nanowatch.de of the
19.1 Background ................................................................................................... 417 19.2 Introduction .................................................................................................. 418 19.3 Use(s) and Potential Sources of Nanosilver Exposure .................................. 419 19.4 Nanomaterial Identication .......................................................................... 422 19.5 Transformation (Speciation) of Nanosilver Material along Its Lifecycle ..... 425 19.6 Hazard Identication and Characterization .................................................. 426 19.7 Challenges Caused by Limitations in Nanoparticle Measurement
Techniques .................................................................................................... 430 References .............................................................................................................. 431
nongovernmental organization BUND,* 99 products are itemized under the category “contains nanomaterial: silver” out of a total of 1007 products claiming to contain nanomaterials listed on this site: https://www.bund.net/nc/themen_und_projekte/ nanotechnologie/nanoproduktdatenbank/produktsuche/ (accessed on 10/25/2013). Searching the global trade website www.alibaba.com for the terms “nano-material, nano-technology, nano-particles” yields >70,000 products, whereas a specic search for “nanosilver, nano-silver” yields >7400 products, conrming that a multitude of products claiming to contain nanosilver have found their way into the global market (Alibaba 2013).
