Manufactured Nanoparticles Could Pose a Hazard to Crops, But Are They a Risk?

Once again, here come the headlines, across both the trade and mainstream press, warning us that manufactured nanoparticles are a danger to our health and environment. This time it’s that nanoparticles stunt soybean crop growth.

The warnings are based on research at the University of California Santa Barbara’s Bren School for Environmental Science & Management. The language of the research, however, falls somewhat short of making such unconditional claims.

Instead the research, which was published the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS),  claims to demonstrate “what could arise over the long term” if plants were grown in soil that had been contaminated with manufactured nanomaterials (MNMs), zinc oxide and cerium oxide. [read more..]