Health risks
The incorporation of manufactured nanomaterials into foods and beverages, nutritional supplements, food packaging, and edible food coatings, fertilisers, pesticides and comprehensive seed treatments presents a whole new array of risks for the public, workers in the food industry and farmers.A growing body of evidence demonstrates that some manufactured nanoparticles will be more toxic per unit of mass than larger particles of the same chemical composition. For example, titanium dioxide is considered to be biologically inert in bulk form and is widely used as a food additive. However, in vitro experiments show that as a nanoparticle or particle up to a few hundred nanometres in size, titanium dioxide damages DNA, disrupts the function of cells, interferes with the defence activities of immune cells, and can provoke inflammation. A single high oral dose of titanium dioxide nanoparticles can cause significant lesions in the kidneys and livers of female mice.