An ecotoxicological characterization of nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC)

Abstract

The pulp and paper industry in Canada is developing technology for the production and use of nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC). A key component of the developmental work is an assessment of potential environmental risks. Towards this goal, NCC samples as well as carboxyl methyl cellulose (CMC), a surrogate of the parent cellulosic material, were subjected to an ecotoxicological evaluation. This involved toxicity tests with rainbow trout hepatocytes and nine aquatic species. The hepatocytes were most sensitive (EC20s between 10 and 200 mg/l) to NCC, although neither NCC nor CMC caused genotoxicity. In tests with the nine species, NCC affected the reproduction of the fathead minnow at (IC25) 0.29 g/l, but no other effects on endpoints such as survival and growth occurred in the other species at concentrations below 1 g/l, which was comparable to CMC. Based on this ecotoxicological characterization, NCC was found to have low toxicity potential and environmental risk.

Keywords::

• Cellulose
• crystallinity
• fishes
• nanocrystalline materials
• toxicity
• yield

Acknowledgements

We thank George Sacciadis and Guy Njamen of FPInnovations – Paprican Division for providing the pilot plant samples of NCC as well as the physical/chemical characterization of these samples. We thank Joelle Auclair from Environment Canada for undertaking the trout hepatocytes test and biochemical analyses. Michelle Ricard, FPInnovations – Paprican Division, reviewed the report and offered useful suggestions for improvements.

Declaration of interest: Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) provided funding to FPInnovations – Paprican towards developing transformative technologies for the pulp and paper industry, including nanotechnology. Part of this money was used to undertake the ecotoxicological assessment described in this manuscript at FPInnovations – Paprican and at the University of Ottawa. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.