Abstract
There has been great interest in the use of carbon nano-materials (CNMs) in agriculture. However, the existing literature reveals mixed effects from CNM exposure on plants, ranging from enhanced crop yield to acute cytotoxicity and genetic alteration. These seemingly inconsistent research-outcomes, taken with the current technological limitations for in situ CNM detection, present significant hurdles to the wide scale use of CNMs in agriculture. The objective of this review is to evaluate the current literature, including studies with both positive and negative effects of different CNMs (e.g., carbon nano-tubes, fullerenes, carbon nanoparticles, and carbon nano-horns, among others) on terrestrial plants and associated soil-dwelling microbes. The effects of CNMs on the uptake of various co-contaminants will also be discussed. Last, we highlight critical knowledge gaps, including the need for more soil-based investigations under environmentally relevant conditions. In addition, efforts need to be focused on better understanding of the underlying mechanism of CNM-plant interactions.
Highlights
Carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) are a class of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) seeing increased applications due to their exceptional optical, electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties (Hurt et al, 2006; Bennett et al, 2013; Srivastava et al, 2015)
The amount of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) degrading organisms (e.g., Cellulomonas, Rhodococcus, Pseudomonas, and Nocardioides) was markedly increased. These results suggest a potential shift toward more stress tolerant organisms with increasing soil-MWCNT concentration, the findings are too limited to be conclusive
It is clear that a general lack of understanding persists for CNM fate and effects in the environment
Summary
Carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) are a class of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) seeing increased applications due to their exceptional optical, electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties (Hurt et al, 2006; Bennett et al, 2013; Srivastava et al, 2015). A 29% increase and a 48% decrease in p,p -DDE uptake were observed upon fullerene exposure Non-functionalized CNT was more effective at reducing the organochlorine accumulation by plant roots (88%) and shoots (78%). Khodakovskaya et al (2011) showed that in Murashige and Skoog (MS) growth medium, 50 μg/mL SWCNT and MWCNT exposure enhanced the total fresh biomass of tomato seeds by 75 and 110%, respectively, as compared to activated carbon and graphene. Plants were treated with 10-150 mg/L ws-CNPs in soil for up to 20 days; results showed optimum growth at 50 mg/L treatment with root and shoot lengths increased up to three times compared to untreated controls. Similar to the positive effects, toxicity was found to be largely dependent on CNM concentrations, growth/exposure conditions, and plant species.
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