Nanopesticides: State of Knowledge, Environmental Fate, and Exposure Modeling

Abstract

Published literature has been reviewed in order to (a) explore the (potential) applications of nanotechnology in pesticide formulation, (b) identify possible impacts on environmental fate, and (c) analyze the suitability of current exposure assessment procedures to account for the novel properties of nanopesticides within the EU regulatory context. The term nanopesticide covers a wide variety of products and cannot be considered to represent a single category. Many nanoformulations combine several surfactants, polymers, and metal nanoparticles in the nanometer size range. The aims of nanoformulations are generally common to other pesticide formulations, these being to increase the apparent solubility of poorly soluble active ingredients, to release the active ingredient in a slow/targeted manner and/or to protect against premature degradation. Nanoformulations are thus expected to (a) have significant impacts on the fate of active ingredients and/or (b) introduce new ingredients for which the environmental fate is still poorly understood (e.g., nanosilver). Therefore, it seems that adaptations of current exposure assessment approaches will be necessary, at least for some nanopesticides. The present analysis provides a useful framework to identify priorities for future research in order to achieve more robust risk assessments of nanopesticides.