Collaborative Research: NanoFARM (Fate and effects of agriculturally relevant materials)

纳米农用化学品的开发进展迅速。纳米农业肥料和农药比其他任何纳米材料的使用都更有可能直接、大规模地将人造纳米材料引入环境。然而，纳米增强型农用化学品对陆地生态系统的影响研究不够充分，而且在很大程度上是未知的。此外，这些纳米颗粒的特性及其在土壤中的复杂行为使得使用传统化学品的风险评估框架来预测它们在土壤中的命运变得困难。这个国际跨学科项目解决了土壤性质、MNM性质、MNM浓度和转化如何影响土壤中与农业相关的金属（水合）氧化物mnnm的时空行为以及它们被包括小麦和番茄在内的重要作物植物吸收的知识方面的基本空白。此外，还将评估其毒性潜力、被土壤生物吸收的可能性以及长期生态影响的可能性。还将开发新的方法来跟踪和表征土壤中实际浓度的纳米颗粒。这一新知识将有助于了解与用于农产品的纳米颗粒相关的风险，也有助于设计更安全、更有效的纳米农药和肥料。随着它们在土壤中的老化，纳米颗粒的大小、组成和分布不断变化。土壤中纳米颗粒的颗粒性质和固有的不稳定性使得许多评估环境命运的测试方法不适合未经修改的纳米颗粒。这些特点也使得MNM的命运很可能依赖于浓度，而传统化学品则不是这样。我们迫切需要了解土壤中纳米颗粒的变化率，以及这些变化如何影响纳米颗粒在土壤和孔隙水之间的分布，以及纳米颗粒随时间的生物利用度和毒性，以便准确评估纳米颗粒的命运和毒性潜力，并能够开发出现实的、特定地点的纳米颗粒命运和影响模型。该项目解决了关于土壤性质、MNM性质、MNM浓度和反应动力学如何影响土壤中金属氧化物MNM农药和肥料的时空行为的基本知识空白。具体而言，pi将评估这些变量如何影响土壤中的转化和分布、对土壤生物的毒性和多代效应、生物积累/营养转移、植物有效性，以及因此对生态影响或人类因食用主要粮食作物而暴露的潜在影响。该项目还将开发跟踪土壤中MNMs的新方法，并将为评估农业相关MNMs的命运、生物利用度和毒性潜力的新分析提供指导。PIs的重点是铜和锌基金属（氢）氧化物，这些氧化物在商业上用作农药或作为微量营养素肥料添加剂销售。拟议的研究将更全面地了解用于农产品的纳米材料的命运和风险，通过加深对这些产品的风险和益处与纳米材料特性之间的关系的了解，促进基于纳米材料的农产品的高效和安全设计，并提供可应用于基于纳米材料的农产品的简单筛选测试，以预测其命运和毒性风险。总体而言，该项目将为评估mnm增强型农药和化肥的环境影响建立健全的模型和有效的分析方法，并为农产品的安全设计及其管理提供基于科学的方法。这个项目吗?该报告的研究结果将有助于制定一致的基于科学的法规，并促进美国和欧盟之间不间断的农产品（包括农用化学品和食品）贸易。教育活动将包括与他们的行业合作伙伴提供实习机会，在他们的国际合作伙伴实验室轮转，并每年接待两名本科生作为CEINT REU计划的一部分。

1530563(Lowry)/1530594(Unrine)The development of nano-enabled agricultural chemicals is proceeding rapidly. Nano-enabled agricultural fertilizers and pesticides have a greater potential for direct, massive introduction of manmade nanomaterials (MNMs) into the environment than any other use of MNMs. However, the effects of nano-enhanced agricultural chemicals on terrestrial ecosystems are inadequately studied and largely unknown. Moreover, the properties of these MNMs, and their complex behaviour in soils makes predicting their fate in soils difficult using the risk assessment framework for traditional chemicals. This international interdisciplinary project addresses essential gaps in knowledge about how soil properties, MNM properties, MNM concentration, and transformations affect the spatial and temporal behaviour of agriculturally relevant metal (hydr)oxide MNMs in soils and their uptake by important crop plants including wheat and tomato. In addition, the toxicity potential, uptake into soil organisms, and potential for long-term ecological impacts will be assessed. New methods to track and characterize MNMs in soil at realistic concentrations will be also developed. This new knowledge will help to understand the risks associated with MNMs used in agricultural products, but also help to design safer and more effective nano-enabled pesticides and fertilizers.MNMs are constantly changing size, composition, and distribution as they age in soils. The particulate nature and inherent instability of NMNs in soils makes many of the test methods for assessing environmental fate unsuitable for MNMs without modification. These features also make MNM fate likely to be concentration dependent in ways that traditional chemicals are not. Information about the rates of change of MNMs in soils, and how these changes affect the distribution of NMNs between soil and pore water, and bioavailability and toxicity of MNMs over time is acutely needed to accurately assess fate and toxicity potential, and to be able to develop realistic and site-specific models for NMN fate and effects. This project addresses essential gaps in knowledge about how soil properties, MNM properties, MNM concentration, and reaction kinetics affect the spatial and temporal behaviour of metal-oxide MNM-enabled pesticides and fertilizers in soils. Specifically, the PIs will assess how these variables influence transformation and distribution in soils, toxicity and multigenerational effects on soil organisms, bioaccumulation/trophic transfer, phytoavailability, and therefore the potential for ecological impacts or human exposures from consumption of key food crops. This project will also develop novel methods to track MNMs in soils and will provide guidance for new assays for assessing fate, bioavailability, and toxicity potential of agriculturally relevant MNMs. The PIs focus on Cu- and Zn-based metal (hydr)oxides that are used commercially as pesticides or are marketed as micronutrient fertilizer additives. The proposed study will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the fate and risks of MNMs used in agricultural products, facilitate efficient and safe design of nanomaterial-based agriculture products through increasing understanding of how the risks and benefits of these products relate to the MNM properties, and provide simple screening tests that can be applied to MNM-based agriculture products to predict their fate and toxicity risks. Overall, this project will create robust models and validated assays for the evaluation of environmental impacts of MNM-enhanced pesticides and fertilizers, and provide a science-based approach to safe design of agriculture products and their management. The project?s findings will facilitate development of consistent science-based regulations and promote uninterrupted trade of agricultural products (both agrochemicals and food) between the US and the EU. Educational activities will include providing internship opportunities with their industry partners, lab rotations at their international partners, and hosting two undergraduate students per year as part of the CEINT REU program.