Abstract
ACEnano is an EU-funded project which aims at developing, optimising and validating methods for the detection and characterisation of nanomaterials (NMs) in increasingly complex matrices to improve confidence in the results and support their use in regulation. Within this project, several interlaboratory comparisons (ILCs) for the determination of particle size and concentration have been organised to benchmark existing analytical methods. In this paper the results of a number of these ILCs for the characterisation of NMs are presented and discussed. The results of the analyses of pristine well-defined particles such as 60 nm Au NMs in a simple aqueous suspension showed that laboratories are well capable of determining the sizes of these particles. The analysis of particles in complex matrices or formulations such as consumer products resulted in larger variations in particle sizes within technologies and clear differences in capability between techniques. Sunscreen lotion sample analysis by laboratories using spICP-MS and TEM/SEM identified and confirmed the TiO2 particles as being nanoscale and compliant with the EU definition of an NM for regulatory purposes. In a toothpaste sample orthogonal results by PTA, spICP-MS and TEM/SEM agreed and stated the TiO2 particles as not fitting the EU definition of an NM. In general, from the results of these ILCs we conclude that laboratories are well capable of determining particle sizes of NM, even in fairly complex formulations.
Highlights
An increasing number of nanomaterials (NMs) are entering the market in consumer products spanning from health care and leisure to electronics, cosmetics and foodstuff.Nanotechnology is a truly enabling technology, with unlimited potential for innovation and numerous benefits derived from the NM unique size-related properties that are widely recognised [1,2]
dynamic light scattering (DLS) is an ensemble nique for measuring the size of particles that are typically sub-micron and dispersed in a technique for measuring the size of particles that are typically sub-micron and dispersed in liquid
Results for the particle sample reported by participants in the the DLS interlaboratory comparisons (ILCs)
Summary
An increasing number of nanomaterials (NMs) are entering the market in consumer products spanning from health care and leisure to electronics, cosmetics and foodstuff.Nanotechnology is a truly enabling technology, with unlimited potential for innovation and numerous benefits derived from the NM unique size-related properties that are widely recognised [1,2]. Of the most commonly used techniques for the determination of the diameters of NM, only electron microscopy (EM), particle tracking analysis (PTA), and single-particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (spICP-MS) deliver number-based particle size distributions. While some of these techniques have been around for decades (e.g., EM), others have been on the market over 10 years (PTA) or are recent extensions of established methods such as ICP-MS to detect particles in addition to total metal concentration. These are refined to implement technical advances in terms of sample introduction and/or detection as well as software advances to enhance particle detection, counting and image analysis including high-throughput computational approaches which are emerging rapidly, driven by both regulatory and research demands
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