Insights into the occurrence and biotoxicity impact of zinc oxide nanoparticles within healthcare and sanitary products
The potential occurrence of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) within healthcare and sanitary products labelled as containing bulk ZnO has become an emerging issue, due to their controversial biotoxicity derived from their recently reported enzyme-like behaviour. To monitor and shed light on it, a mu...
| Autores: | , , , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2026 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha |
| Repositorio: | RUIdeRA. Repositorio Institucional de la UCLM |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:dnet:ruidera_____::59e81a227c4fa2567acb8230734959eb |
| Acceso en línea: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2026.129922 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0039914026005783 https://hdl.handle.net/10578/48370 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Antimicrobial activity Catalytic nanozymes Nanobiotoxicity Single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry Zinc oxide nanoparticles |
| Sumario: | The potential occurrence of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) within healthcare and sanitary products labelled as containing bulk ZnO has become an emerging issue, due to their controversial biotoxicity derived from their recently reported enzyme-like behaviour. To monitor and shed light on it, a multidisciplinary approach has been devised in the present work. Firstly, biotoxicity tests of bulk ZnO and ZnONPs were performed on nine different microorganism strains (yeasts and bacteria), characteristic pathogen and commensal human microbiota inhabiting affected human tissues. Secondly, assorted commercial healthcare and sanitary products containing bulk ZnO (with undeclared ZnONPs) were analyzed by single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (spICP-MS). With this aim, an ultrasonic probe-assisted extraction using Triton X-100 1% was applied, and commercial ZnONP powder was used as an internal quality control material. The evaluation of analytical performance features in terms of trueness (particle number concentration and equivalent size), precision, and limits of detection in size and concentration proves the suitability of the methodology regarding preservation of native size, size distribution, and number of NPs. Biotoxicity assays evidenced higher inhibition halos for ZnONPs than for bulk ZnO with a clear size-dependent NPs behaviour and substantial variability in bacterial susceptibility. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) needed to act on pathogens resulted clearly able to compromise commensal microbiota. Hence, the obtained findings reveal potential toxicity risks and the need to control them using appropriate tools, as some commercial samples presented ZnONP percentages outside of a safety scenario, as well as the advisability of reassessing the legal framework. |
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