Vireo’s Latest Publication Identifies and Prioritizes Potential Risks Throughout the Product Life-Cycle from Use of Second-Generation Cellulose Nanomaterials in Food and Food-contact Applications

Vireo Advisors, LLC is pleased to share our latest publication, “Life-Cycle Risk Assessment of Second-Generation Cellulose Nanomaterials.”  

Vireo Advisors, LLC, in collaboration with Baylor University, UC Davis, and the US Forest Service Forest Products Labs conducted a nanomaterial life-cycle risk assessment (Nano LCRA) for second-generation functionalized cellulose nanomaterials (CNs) in five case studies, including applications in water filtration, food contact packaging (including as an additive and coating), and food additives, to identify and prioritize potential occupational, health, consumer, and environmental risks. Exposure scenarios were developed and ranked for each product life-cycle stage. A Safer-by-Design Toolbox (SbD Toolbox) we developed representing a compendium of high-throughput physical, chemical, and toxicological new approach methodologies (NAMs), was used for a screening-level hazard assessment.

 Overall, risks identified for the CN-enabled products were low. Of the exposure scenarios, occupational inhalation exposures during product manufacturing and application ranked the highest. Despite differences in chemistry and morphology, the materials behaved similarly in oral, dermal, and inhalation models, supporting their grouping and read-across. The screening-level hazard assessment identified potential lung inflammation associated with CN exposure, and a review of the literature supported this finding, suggesting CNs behave as poorly soluble, low-toxicity dusts with the potential to irritate the lung. Key research gaps to reduce uncertainty include evaluating long-term, low-dose exposures typical of the workplace, as well as the potential release and toxicity of CN-containing composite particles. 

This research was funded by P3Nano, a public–private partnership between the US Endowment for Forestry and Communities and the USDA Forest Service Forest Products Lab under Award 21-0144.  

The open-access publication is available in the journal Nanomaterials.