Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
systems could cause damage, which could subsequently cause harm to human
health (Xia et al.
2009
).
However, one of the most disgustful scenarios is the lack of concrete technical
data on toxicological aspect of nanoparticles giving opportunity to both nanotech-
nology proponents and opponents to make contradictory, unscientific, and sweep-
ing conclusions about the safety of nanoparticles. This atmosphere of uncertainty is
precisely the feature of nanotechnology that causes cynics the greatest concern
(Colvin
2003
). Herein arises a need for proper physicochemical characterization
and determination of appropriate exposure protocols and reliable methods for
assessing nanoparticles outcome in the environment, their internalization, and
their kinetics in living organisms. Once these issues are addressed, optimal exper-
imental conditions could be established in order to identify if a particular nanopar-
ticle poses a threat to human health (Thomas and Sayre
2005
). Multidisciplinary
research between materials scientists, environmentalists, and life scientists should
overcome these limitations in identifying the true hazards of nanotechnology.
Sadly, the risk assessments of nanotechnology are partly subjective and likely to
be highly politicized.
Disastrously, no single scenario for describing risks and controls can be univer-
sally applied to conclude the outcome due to the heterogeneous and developmental
nature of nanotechnology. Also, an absence of standardized methodologies and
guidelines makes it difficult to compare the safety/toxicity assessments from
different research groups (Dhawan et al.
2009
). The ethical issues will be specific
only for the knowledge base at a given time and for a specified product and its
exposure scenario. Moreover, maintaining utmost specificity regarding design of
experiments, alternative assessments are needed to take into consideration ethical,
social, and political values that relate policies such as those involving nanotech-
nology (Schulte and Salamanca-Buentello
2007
). Before interpreting toxicological
data, it is thus essential to calculate and determine the expected concentrations of
nanoparticles that may be exposed to the biological system or present in the
ecosystem.
The use of nanotechnology in agriculture is significantly important as it directly
affects humans (Bouwmeester et al.
2009
). Nano-fertilizers enable nanoparticles to
enter in the food chain allowing their distribution in every organism related to the
food chain. As all substances, from arsenic to table salt, are toxic to plants, animals,
or humans at some exposure level, this would not limit their use in various
applications which are designed keeping in mind the critical exposure concentra-
tion. As discussed in most of the studies regarding the use of nanoparticles for
promoting growth of plants with a focus on using lower concentrations of
nanoparticles, it can be argued that it will pose insignificant health and environ-
mental damage (Colvin
2003
).
Many countries have identified the potential of nanotechnology in the food and
agriculture sectors and are investing significantly in its applications to food pro-
duction. However, owing to our limited knowledge of the human health effects of
these applications, these countries recognize the need for early consideration of the
food safety implications of nanotechnology. As suggested by the scientific
