2. Nanoparticles in packaging: health risks for consumers?

The emergence of nanotechnologies in the packaging sector has shaken up the prospects for innovation, but also raised new concerns among civil society and the authorities. The question of the suitability of nanocomposite packaging materials for contact with foodstuffs needs to be addressed, not only in terms of toxicity or danger to the consumer, but also in terms of consumer exposure to nanoparticles via the packaging medium. Long-term effects on human health are still difficult to predict, given the diversity of nanomaterials' physico-chemical properties and the evolution of their state of aggregation in the body. These issues have been at the heart of numerous research programs since the early 2000s, and go far beyond packaging alone.

The question of exposure, for its part, is directly linked to the potential migration of nanoparticles from packaging to food,...