Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Environmental Chemistry Letters https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-018-00851-z REVIEW Toxicity and regulations of food nanomaterials Shivendu Ranjan 1  · Nandita Dasgupta 1  · Satnam Singh 2  · Mansi Gandhi 3 Received: 10 December 2018 / Accepted: 13 December 2018 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018 Abstract Food nanotechnology has been rapidly growing in last decade due to the unique properties of nanomaterials. Nonetheless, the presence of nanomaterials in food induces potential risks of toxicity because nanoparticles can easily cross the barriers of human anatomy, through respiratory, dermal, and gastrointestinal routes. In that respect, some countries such as India do not have strict regulations to control nanofood products. This review describes nanomaterial–cell interactions that induce toxicological responses. We discuss the toxicity of food nanomaterials; mechanisms of oxidative stress, genotoxicity and carcinogenicity; and safety regulations. Keywords Nanotoxicology · Side efects · Food-grade nanomaterials · Regulations · Recommendations · Safety Introduction Modern technologies bring their own set of disadvantages along with their benefts. Nanoparticles possess unique prop- erties (Dannie Kingsley et al. 2013) due to their small size and large surface area. However, the same property imparts toxicity to nanoparticles as they can easily difuse and dis- perse through biological barriers. Due to their small size, nanoparticles can easily enter the food chain via processed foods, nutrients, environmental pollutants, pesticides, etc., increasing their toxicity in food products and ecosystem (Rico et al. 2011; Micra et al. 2018). Many factors have to be considered before using nanoparticles to gauge the impact of their exposure on human health (Jasmine et al. 2010). Therefore, there needs to be a better understanding of nano- particles food chain and biodistribution in their technologi- cal development and acceptance (Vilene de Francisco and García-Estepa 2018). A dynamic, participatory, responsive nanotechnology policy and coordinated risk management strategy need to be developed if the Indian agriculture and food system intends to beneft from the economic benefts of nanotechnology (Kalpana et al. 2010; Kalpana Sastry et al. 2013). The small size of nanoparticles imparts some unique properties, making them biologically unpredictable and can lead to unexpected outcomes on contact with biological structures. Smaller size also imparts a dissimilar bio-kinetic behavior and makes them capable to reach extra distal sec- tions of the body (Oberdörster et al. 2005). Environmental contamination is another risk in use of nanoparticles. There are many concerns about the undesir- able and harmful efects of engineered nanomaterials on the environmental and human health. The importance of nano- material risk assessment and management is being recog- nized by scientists and government regulatory authorities all over the world. Figure 1 depicts the interlinked diferent factors for determining environmental and health risks due to exposure of engineered nanomaterials. It can be noted that this article is an abridged version of the chapter published by Ranjan and Dasgupta (2018) (Dasgupta and Ranjan 2018) in the series Environmental Chemistry for a Sustainable World (http://www.springer.com/series/11480). Understanding of infow and outfow of nanoparticles into the cells helps to improve the biomedical applications of nanoparticles and formation of regulatory guidelines which reduces the risks associated with their toxicity (dos Santos et al. 2018). The European Commission’s Scientifc Committee on Emerging and Newly Identifed Health Risks * Shivendu Ranjan shivenduranjan@gmail.com * Nandita Dasgupta nanditadg254@gmail.com 1 Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa 2 Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore 3 School of Advanced Sciences, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India