Titanium dioxide particles frequently present in face masks intended for general use require regulatory control

Although titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) is a suspected human carcinogen when inhaled, fiber-grade TiO 2 (nano)particles were demonstrated in synthetic textile fibers of face masks intended for the general public. STEM-EDX analysis on sections of a variety of single use and reusable face masks visualized...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:Scientific reports Jg. 12; H. 1; S. 2529 - 9
Hauptverfasser: Verleysen, Eveline, Ledecq, Marina, Siciliani, Lisa, Cheyns, Karlien, Vleminckx, Christiane, Blaude, Marie-Noelle, De Vos, Sandra, Brassinne, Frédéric, Van Steen, Frederic, Nkenda, Régis, Machiels, Ronny, Waegeneers, Nadia, Van Loco, Joris, Mast, Jan
Format: Journal Article
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: London Nature Publishing Group UK 15.02.2022
Nature Publishing Group
Nature Portfolio
Schlagworte:
639/301/357/354
639/925/929/170
639/925/929/353
Carcinogens
COVID-19
COVID-19 - prevention & control
COVID-19 - virology
Face
Fibers
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
Inhalation
Inhalation Exposure - analysis
Masks
Metal Nanoparticles - chemistry
Microscopy, Electron, Transmission
multidisciplinary
Particle Size
Polyamides
SARS-CoV-2 - isolation & purification
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Social Control, Formal
Spectrophotometry, Atomic
Textile fibers
Textiles
Textiles - analysis
Titanium - analysis
Titanium dioxide
ISSN:2045-2322, 2045-2322
Online-Zugang:Volltext
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:Although titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) is a suspected human carcinogen when inhaled, fiber-grade TiO 2 (nano)particles were demonstrated in synthetic textile fibers of face masks intended for the general public. STEM-EDX analysis on sections of a variety of single use and reusable face masks visualized agglomerated near-spherical TiO 2 particles in non-woven fabrics, polyester, polyamide and bi-component fibers. Median sizes of constituent particles ranged from 89 to 184 nm, implying an important fraction of nano-sized particles (< 100 nm). The total TiO 2 mass determined by ICP-OES ranged from 791 to 152,345 µg per mask. The estimated TiO 2 mass at the fiber surface ranged from 17 to 4394 µg, and systematically exceeded the acceptable exposure level to TiO 2 by inhalation (3.6 µg), determined based on a scenario where face masks are worn intensively. No assumptions were made about the likelihood of the release of TiO 2 particles itself, since direct measurement of release and inhalation uptake when face masks are worn could not be assessed. The importance of wearing face masks against COVID-19 is unquestionable. Even so, these results urge for in depth research of (nano)technology applications in textiles to avoid possible future consequences caused by a poorly regulated use and to implement regulatory standards phasing out or limiting the amount of TiO 2 particles, following the safe-by-design principle.
Bibliographie:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
content type line 23
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-022-06605-w