Nanosilver-based materials as feed additives: Evaluation of their transformations along in vitro gastrointestinal digestion in pigs and chickens by using an ICP-MS based analytical platform

The use of a new nanomaterial in the feed chain requires a risk assessment that involves in vitro gastrointestinal digestions to predict its degradation and oral exposure to nanoparticles. In this study, a nanosilver-based material was incorporated into pig and chicken feed as a growth-promoting additive and subjected to the corresponding in vitro gastrointestinal digestions. An inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) analytical platform was used to obtain information about the silver released in the different digestion phases. It included conventional ICP-MS for total silver determination, but also single particle ICP-MS and coupling to hydrodynamic chromatography for detection of dissolved and particulate silver. The bioaccessible fraction in the intestinal phase accounted for 8–13% of the total silver, mainly in the form of dissolved Ag(I) species, with less than 0.1% as silver-containing particles. Despite the additive behaving differently in pig and chicken digestions, the feed matrix played a relevant role in the fate of the silver.