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Critical review of the safety assessment of nano-structured silica additives in food

Overview of attention for article published in Journal of Nanobiotechnology, June 2016
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • One of the highest-scoring outputs from this source (#6 of 1,423)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (96th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (86th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
7 news outlets
blogs
3 blogs
twitter
2 X users

Citations

dimensions_citation
102 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
137 Mendeley
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Title
Critical review of the safety assessment of nano-structured silica additives in food
Published in
Journal of Nanobiotechnology, June 2016
DOI 10.1186/s12951-016-0189-6
Pubmed ID
Authors

Hans Christian Winkler, Mark Suter, Hanspeter Naegeli

Abstract

The development of nano-materials is viewed as one of the most important technological advances of the 21st century and new applications of nano-sized particles in the production, processing, packaging or storage of food are expected to emerge soon. This trend of growing commercialization of engineered nano-particles as part of modern diet will substantially increase oral exposure. Contrary to the proven benefits of nano-materials, however, possible adverse health effects have generally received less attention. This problem is very well illustrated by nano-structured synthetic amorphous silica (SAS), which is a common food additive since several decades although the relevant risk assessment has never been satisfactorily completed. A no observed adverse effect level of 2500 mg SAS particles/kg body weight per day was derived from the only available long-term administration study in rodents. However, extrapolation to a safe daily intake for humans is problematic due to limitations of this chronic animal study and knowledge gaps as to possible local intestinal effects of SAS particles, primarily on the gut-associated lymphoid system. This uncertainty is aggravated by digestion experiments indicating that dietary SAS particles preserve their nano-sized structure when reaching the intestinal lumen. An important aspect is whether food-borne particles like SAS alter the function of dendritic cells that, embedded in the intestinal mucosa, act as first-line sentinels of foreign materials. We conclude that nano-particles do not represent a completely new threat and that most potential risks can be assessed following procedures established for conventional chemical hazards. However, specific properties of food-borne nano-particles should be further examined and, for that purpose, in vitro tests with decision-making cells of the immune system are needed to complement existing in vivo studies.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 2 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 137 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Netherlands 1 <1%
Unknown 136 99%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Researcher 22 16%
Student > Master 19 14%
Student > Ph. D. Student 18 13%
Other 17 12%
Student > Bachelor 10 7%
Other 11 8%
Unknown 40 29%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 24 18%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 11 8%
Chemistry 8 6%
Medicine and Dentistry 7 5%
Environmental Science 7 5%
Other 31 23%
Unknown 49 36%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 71. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 05 July 2017.
All research outputs
#511,636
of 22,877,793 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Nanobiotechnology
#6
of 1,423 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#11,237
of 345,199 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Nanobiotechnology
#2
of 15 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,877,793 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 97th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,423 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 3.5. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 345,199 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 96% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 15 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 86% of its contemporaries.