Abstract
According to the current European regulation on cosmetics, any ingredient present as a nanomaterial should be indicated in the ingredient list. There is a need for analytical methods capable of determining the size of the relevant ingredients and thus assessing if these are nanomaterials or not. An analytical method based on asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation (AF4) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was developed to determine the size of particles present in a commercial toothpaste. Multi-angle light scattering (MALS) was used for on-line size determination. The number-based particle size distributions (PSDs) of the particles were retrieved upon mathematical conversion of the mass-based PSDs recovered from the AF4-ICP-MS fractograms. AF4-ICP-MS allowed to separate and detect Al2O3 and TiO2 particles in the toothpaste and to retrieve a correct TiO2 number-based PSD. The potential presence of particles in the lower size range of the Al2O3 mass-based PSD had a strong impact on sizing and nanomaterial classification upon conversion. AF4 coupled with ICP-MS and MALS was found to be a powerful approach for characterization of different particles in a multiple-particle system such as toothpaste. Confirmation of particle size by a secondary method such as single particle ICP-MS or hydrodynamic chromatography was crucial.
Highlights
Nanotechnology is considered a key enabling technology in the European Union (EU) and nanomaterials are present in almost any industrial sector including chemicals, energy, consumer products, health, and the environment
AF4 coupled with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and Multi-angle light scattering (MALS) was found to be a powerful approach for characterization of different particles in a multiple-particle system such as toothpaste
We study the feasibility of AF4 coupled to ICP-MS for determining the size of nanoparticles in a specific consumer product, namely toothpaste
Summary
Nanotechnology is considered a key enabling technology in the European Union (EU) and nanomaterials are present in almost any industrial sector including chemicals, energy, consumer products, health, and the environment. Therein, a nanomaterial is defined as a natural, incidental, or manufactured material containing particles, in an unbound state or as an aggregate or as an agglomerate and where, for 50% or more of the particles in the number size distribution, one or more external dimensions is in the size range 1–100 nm. This definition has been under review in order to correct any issues found since its adoption [1]. The EC has the intension of harmonizing the sector-specific regulatory definitions of nanomaterials with the revised EC recommendation (taking into account sector-specific needs) [1]
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