permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflj@bellsouth.net>]

------- Original Message --------
Subject: [SANET-MG] nanoparticles  an emerging threat to the food supply
Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2012 17:13:05 -0400
From: jcummins <jcummins@UWO.CA>
To: SANET-MG@LISTS.IFAS.UFL.EDU

Sunscreens, lotions, and cosmetics contain tiny metal nanoparticles that
wash down the drain at the end of the day, or are discharged after
manufacturing. Those nanoparticles eventually end up in agricultural
soil, which is a cause for concern.

Priester, J.H., Ge, Y., Mielke, R.E., Horst, A.M., Cole Moritz, S.,
Espinosa, K., Gelb, J., Walker, S.L., Nisbet, R.M., Schimel, J.P.,
Palmer, R.G., Hernandez-Viezcas, J.A., Zhao, L., Gardea-Torresdey, J.L.,
Holden, P.A. 2012. Soybean Susceptibility to Manufactured Nanomaterials
with Evidence for Food Quality and Soil Fertility Interruption. Proc
Natl Acad Sci USA Published online before print August 20, 2012, doi:
10.1073/pnas.1205431109
abstract:Based on previously published hydroponic plant, planktonic
bacterial, and soil microbial community research, manufactured
nanomaterial (MNM) environmental buildup could profoundly alter
soil-based food crop quality and yield. However, thus far, no single
study has at once examined the full implications, as no studies have
involved growing plants to full maturity in MNM-contaminated field soil.
We have done so for soybean, a major global commodity crop, using farm
soil amended with two high-production metal oxide MNMs (nano-CeO2 and
-ZnO). The results provide a clear, but unfortunate, view of what could
arise over the long term: (i) for nano-ZnO, component metal was taken up
and distributed throughout edible plant tissues; (ii) for nano-CeO2,
plant growth and yield diminished, but also (iii) nitrogen fixation—a
major ecosystem service of leguminous crops—was shut down at high
nano-CeO2 concentration. Juxtaposed against widespread land application
of wastewater treatment biosolids to food crops, these findings forewarn
of agriculturally associated human and environmental risks from the
accelerating use of MNMs.