Nanotechnology in Agriculture, the Food Sector, and Remediation: Prospects, Relations, and Constraints

Abstract

The applications and benefits of nanotechnology in the agricultural and food sector are now established as a matter of fact, but scientists still have a problem to properly acknowledge the influence of nanocompounds on the environment. We are starting to use nanopesticides and nanofertilizers, but the effects they have on organisms in the environment can be diverse in nature – ranging from the beneficial to the harmful. Environmental microbiome can be strongly modified by nanoparticles. Soil microbiomes are the basis for healthy plants and crops. At the same time, the unique properties of nanomaterials make them particularly suitable for environmental remediation due to their high surface area-to-volume ratio, which often results in higher reactivity. Nanomaterials are starting to be used for the remediation of problematic contaminants (organic and organophosphorus compounds, volatile organic compounds, some heavy metals, or herbicides), and such use offers some very promising prospects. This chapter provides an overview of nanotechnology in general, including a description of the main categories of nanomaterials, the utilization of nanotechnology in the agricultural and food sector, as well as the use of nanomaterials in environmental remediation. Lastly, some toxicological aspects of nanomaterials present in the environment are presented on the basis of the scientific literature in the field.