TY - JOUR A1 - Voss, L. A1 - Saloga, Patrick E. J. A1 - Stock, V. A1 - Böhmert, L. A1 - Braeuning, A. A1 - Thünemann, Andreas A1 - Lampen, A. A1 - Sieg, H. T1 - Environmental impact of ZnO nanoparticles evaluated by in vitro simulated digestion JF - ACS Applied Nano Materials N2 - ZnO nanoparticles are found in different food and consumer products, and their toxicological effects are still under investigation. It is therefore important to understand their behavior in the gastrointestinal tract. Here, we used an in vitro model to assess the physicochemical fate of ZnO nanoparticles during the digestive process in artificial saliva, stomach juice, and intestinal juice. Atomic absorption spectrometry and small-angle X-ray scattering were employed to investigate two ZnO nanomaterials, one intensively characterized reference material and soluble ZnCl2 in a broad range of concentrations between 25 and 1000 μg/mL in the intestinal fluid. Because food components may influence the behavior of nanomaterials in the gastrointestinal tract, starch, milk powder, and olive oil were used to mimic carbohydrates, protein, and fat, respectively. Additionally, ion release of all Zn species was assessed in cell culture media and compared to artificial intestinal juice to investigate relevance of typical cell culture conditions in ZnO nanotoxicology. ZnCl2 as well as the ZnO species were present as particles in artificial saliva but were solubilized completely in the acidic stomach juice. Interestingly, in the intestinal fluid a concentration-independent de novo formation of particles in the nanoscale range was shown. This was the case for all particles as well as for ZnCl2, regardless of the concentration used. Neither of the food components affected the behavior of any Zn species. On the contrary, all Zn species showed a Zn-concentration-dependent ion release in common cell culture medium. This questions the suitability of cell culture studies to investigate the effect of ZnO nanoparticles on intestinal cells. Our results show that Zn-containing nanoparticles reach the intestine. This underlines the importance of determining the influence of the test environment on nanoparticle fate. KW - SAXS KW - Digestion KW - Zinc oxide KW - Nanoparticles PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.9b02236 VL - 3 IS - 1 SP - 724 EP - 733 AN - OPUS4-50288 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -