nanoagriculture

Scientists declare knowledge gap in nanoagriculture

At just 1/50,000 the width of an average human hair, nanoparticles are widely used in cosmetics, medicines, and more.

But their emerging use in agriculture has raised questions about health and environmental effects, and a new report by a team of chemists at the University of Texas at El Paso concludes that those questions don't yet have answers.

After reviewing nearly 100 scientific articles on the effects of a variety of nanoparticles on edible plants (including cucumbers, rye, barley, and zucchini), the team found that both uptake and build-up of nanoparticles vary widely depending on plant type … Read more