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Uncertainty? - Yesterday's News makes Headlines

Published: Thursday 10 June 2010

For yet unexplained reasons, the German Government’s Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (BfR) (Federal Institute for Risk Assessment) has published a press release on a six months old position paper:

An article on the Institute‘s website entitled ‘Nanosilber gehört nicht in Lebensmittel, Textilien und Kosmetika‘(English: 'No room for nanosilver in food, textiles and cosmetics’) (article in German) states: ‚Die antimikrobiellen Eigenschaften von Silberionen machen sich Hersteller von verbrauchernahen Produkten seit langem zunutze. Neuerdings werden auch Silberpartikel in Nanogröße eingesetzt. So sollen zum Beispiel die mit Nanosilber beschichteten Oberflächen in Kühlschränken das Wachstum von Keimen verhindern, und in Sportsocken soll es die Geruchsbildung vermeiden. Ob von Nanosilber ein gesundheitliches Risiko für Verbraucher ausgeht, lässt sich derzeit nicht abschließend beurteilen.‘

(English: 'The antimicrobial properties of silverions have been used by manufacturers of consumer products for a long time. Recently, silver particles on the nanometre scale are utilised, in order to prevent the growth of bacteria on the surfaces of fridges through the aid of a coating with nanosilver, while its application in sport socks is supposed to avoid the development of smells. it is unclear, if nanosilver poses any risks to the consumer.')

The article is based on a BfR position paper, published on the 28th December 2009; the paper is entitled ‘BfR rät von Nanosilber in Lebensmitteln und Produkten des täglichen Bedarfs ab’ (English: ‘BfR advises against the Use of Nanosilver in Food and Consumer Products’) (paper in German).

Follow these links to read the full BfR article (10th June 2010), or to download the BfR Position Paper (28th December 2009).

 
Related Links:
According to an article on FoodProductionDaily.com, representatives of the food packaging industry have criticised the conclusion of the UK House of Lords Report on ‘Nanotechnologies and Food’; [...]. (13th January 2010)
 
The German Umweltbundesamt (UBA) (Federal Environmental Agency) has published a clarifying contribution to yesterday’s media-frenzy following the publication of a Spiegel-Online article (21st October 2009, 7:08), according to which the German Federal Environmental Agency apparently ‘advised consumers to be particularly vigilant when using products containing nanoparticles, until more was known about the materials’ effect on the environment and human health.’  (22nd October 2009)