Nanomaterials could have a huge impact on environment and health
-- Packaging Digest, 9/1/2009 2:00:00 AM
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Nanomaterials are just too tiny to ignore. They're increasingly being used in packaging and can have the potential to improve a variety of packaging-performance attributes such as oxygen and moisture blockage, ink or dye-free coloration and increased strength while lightweighting.
Nanomaterials can also make packaging “smart” by introducing properties that can react and respond to environmental conditions. For example, a leading food company, in collaboration with Rutgers University and the University of Connecticut, is developing nanoparticle films that can “warn” consumers when food becomes unsafe for consumption by changing color. Researchers in The Netherlands are also experimenting with a nanotechnology “bio-switch” that will release preservatives if food spoilage is detected.
Nanotechnology seems to hold so much promise for innovation that the market for these components was $360 million in 2008 in the packaging sector alone. The 2009 U.S. federal government budget includes more than $1.5 billion for a National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI). But the jury is still out on the potential risks in using engineered nanomaterials. Research funding is disproportionately targeted toward nanomaterials innovation and promoting the benefits rather than on identifying, managing and communicating the risks. Only 16 percent of the NNI funds will be directed toward health and safety assessment. Responsible companies, then, should approach integrating nanoparticles into packaging materials with the understanding that their risks aren't yet fully understood.
What are nanomaterials? There's no internationally accepted definition, but they are commonly defined as materials that have structured components with at least one dimension less than 100 nm. Some of these nanomaterials occur in nature; others are engineered for performance purposes. Generally speaking, the smaller a nanomaterial is, the more likely it is to behave differently than its macro counterpart. These behavioral differences are why nanomaterials can be engineered to alter performance attributes in exciting new ways, but they're also the reason why some engineered nanomaterials carry a risk.
As the Woodrow Wilson Center's Project on Emerging Nanotechnology's website (www.nanotechproject.org) states, “Nanoparticles' small size might allow them to get into places that conventional particles wouldn't be able to go. This could mean penetrating deep within the lungs when inhaled, then passing into the bloodstream and reaching other organs. Or, it might lead to nanometer-scale particles spreading through the environment and building up in places you wouldn't normally find pollutants.”
With packaging, there are concerns these materials may be able to migrate into food. Since packaging materials comprise 30 percent of municipal solid waste, there are also concerns that the particles could pass through environmental protection systems, such as liners in landfills or particle screens and scrubbers in incinerators, and leach into the soil and groundwater or be released into the atmosphere, the consequences of which aren't yet fully understood. In the U.S., nanomaterials are reviewed for safety under the same antiquated regulatory frameworks developed 30 to 40 years ago, before significant developments occurred in engineered nanomaterials. Thus, some organizations are calling for a total ban on their use in products and packaging until all of the risks are known or confirmed. Others see nanotechnology as having as much potential to positively affect human/environmental health as to negatively affect it, and recommend appropriate risk-management frameworks or calling for new policies or regulations to address nanomaterials.
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