Suitability of analytical methods to measure solubility for the purpose of nanoregulation

Abstract

Solubility is an important physicochemical parameter in nanoregulation. If nanomaterial is completely soluble, then from a risk assessment point of view, its disposal can be treated much in the same way as “ordinary” chemicals, which will simplify testing and characterisation regimes. This review assesses potential techniques for the measurement of nanomaterial solubility and evaluates the performance against a set of analytical criteria (based on satisfying the requirements as governed by the cosmetic regulation as well as the need to quantify the concentration of free (hydrated) ions). Our findings show that no universal method exists. A complementary approach is thus recommended, to comprise an atomic spectrometry-based method in conjunction with an electrochemical (or colorimetric) method. This article shows that although some techniques are more commonly used than others, a huge research gap remains, related with the need to ensure data reliability.

• Nanomaterials
• regulation
• solubility

Acknowledgements

C.R.C. and C.A.D. thank Josep Galceran and Jaume Puy (U. of Lleida) for their useful suggestions and comments.

Declaration of interest

We acknowledge support from European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-NMP.2012.1.3-3) under grant agreement no. 310584 (NANoREG). This work was supported by the Service Public de Wallonie (SPW) – Direction générale opérationnelle – Economie, Emploi et Recherche (DGO6), Département des Programmes de Recherche (NANoREG, SPW/UNamur research convention N° 1317938). The authors declare no competing personal or financial conflicts.