Wageningen Food Safety Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
Nanotoxicology. 2020 Apr;14(3):420-432. doi: 10.1080/17435390.2020.1718232. Epub 2020 Jan 29.
Silicon dioxide (silica, SiO, SAS) and titanium dioxide (TiO) are produced in high volumes and applied in many consumer and food products. As a consequence, there is a potential human exposure and subsequent systemic uptake of these particles. In this study we show the characterization and quantification of both total silicon (Si) and titanium (Ti), and particulate SiO and TiO in postmortem tissue samples from 15 deceased persons. Included tissues are liver, spleen, kidney and the intestinal tissues jejunum and ileum. Low-level analysis was enabled by the use of fully validated sample digestion methods combined with (single particle) inductively coupled plasma high resolution mass spectrometry techniques (spICP-HRMS). The results show a total-Si concentration ranging from <2 to 191 mg Si/kg (median values of 5.8 (liver), 9.5 (spleen), 7.7 (kidney), 6.8 (jejunum), 7.6 (ileum) mg Si/kg) while the particulate SiO ranged from <0.2 to 25 mg Si/kg (median values of 0.4 (liver), 1.0 (spleen), 0.4 (kidney), 0.7 (jejunum, 0.6 (ileum) mg Si/kg), explaining about 10% of the total-Si concentration. Particle sizes ranged from 150 to 850 nm with a mode of 270 nm. For total-Ti the results show concentrations ranging from <0.01 to 2.0 mg Ti/kg (median values of 0.02 (liver), 0.04 (spleen), 0.05 (kidney), 0.13 (jejunum), 0.26 (ileum) mg Ti/kg) while particulate TiO concentrations ranged from 0.01 to 1.8 mg Ti/kg (median values of 0.02 (liver), 0.02 (spleen), 0.03 (kidney), 0.08 (jejunum), 0.25 (ileum) mg Ti/kg). In general, the particulate TiO explained 80% of the total-Ti concentration. This indicates that most Ti in these organ tissues is particulate material. The detected particles comprise primary particles, aggregates and agglomerates, and were in the range of 50-500 nm with a mode in the range of 100-160 nm. About 17% of the detected TiO particles had a size <100 nm. The presence of SiO and TiO particles in liver tissue was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry.
二氧化硅（SiO2，硅，SAS）和二氧化钛（TiO2）的产量很高，广泛应用于许多消费品和食品中。因此，这些颗粒存在人体暴露和随后的系统性摄取的潜在风险。在这项研究中，我们展示了对 15 名死者的组织样本中总硅（Si）和钛（Ti）以及颗粒态 SiO2 和 TiO2 的特征描述和定量分析。包括的组织有肝、脾、肾和肠道组织空肠和回肠。低水平分析是通过使用经过充分验证的样品消化方法与（单颗粒）电感耦合等离子体高分辨率质谱技术（spICP-HRMS）相结合来实现的。结果显示，总-Si 浓度范围为<2 至 191mg Si/kg（中位数分别为 5.8（肝）、9.5（脾）、7.7（肾）、6.8（空肠）、7.6（回肠）mg Si/kg），而颗粒态 SiO2 浓度范围为<0.2 至 25mg Si/kg（中位数分别为 0.4（肝）、1.0（脾）、0.4（肾）、0.7（空肠）、0.6（回肠）mg Si/kg），占总-Si 浓度的约 10%。颗粒大小范围为 150 至 850nm，模态为 270nm。对于总-Ti，结果显示浓度范围为<0.01 至 2.0mg Ti/kg（中位数分别为 0.02（肝）、0.04（脾）、0.05（肾）、0.13（空肠）、0.26（回肠）mg Ti/kg），而颗粒态 TiO2 浓度范围为 0.01 至 1.8mg Ti/kg（中位数分别为 0.02（肝）、0.02（脾）、0.03（肾）、0.08（空肠）、0.25（回肠）mg Ti/kg）。总的来说，颗粒态 TiO2 解释了总-Ti 浓度的 80%。这表明这些器官组织中的大部分 Ti 是颗粒物质。检测到的颗粒包括初级颗粒、聚集体和团聚体，粒径范围为 50-500nm，模态范围为 100-160nm。约 17%的检测到的 TiO2 颗粒粒径<100nm。通过扫描电子显微镜结合能量色散 X 射线光谱法证实了肝组织中 SiO2 和 TiO2 颗粒的存在。
