Applications of Nanotechnology in Agriculture and Food Systems

Melanie Kah; Rai Kookana

doi:10.1515/ci-2024-0419

Article Open Access

Applications of Nanotechnology in Agriculture and Food Systems

Melanie Kah
Melanie Kah is at The University of Auckland, New Zealand
and Rai Kookana
Rai Kookana at CSIRO/ University of Adelaide, Australia

Published/Copyright: October 16, 2024

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From the journal Chemistry International Volume 46 Issue 4

IUPAC is currently sponsoring several projects related to nanotechnology in the Chemistry and the Environment Division. The first project (# 2016-016-2-600) on the “Guidance for Industry and Regulators on Assessment of the Environmental Fate and Risks of Nano-enabled Pesticides” looks at the ecological risks associated with nano-enabled pesticides in agricultural systems (Walker et al., 2018. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 66, 6480; Kah et al., 2018, Nature Nanotechnology, 13, 677 ). The second project (# 2017-035-2-600) is on “Human Health Risk Consideration of Nano-enabled Pesticides for Industry and Regulators.” This project extends the concepts developed for ecological risk assessment, to human health risk assessment (Kah et al., 2021. Nature Nanotechnology, 16, 955-964). It also considers next-generation risk assessment approaches, which can apply to both humans and the environment and recognise their linkages. And this year, IUPAC has also provided support (#2023-027-1-FSC), to facilitate early-career researchers’ participation in the IUPAC-endorsed meeting Gordon Research Conference (GRC-2024) on Nanoscale Science and Engineering for Agriculture and Food Systems. The meeting took place 23-28 June 2024, at the University of Southern New Hampshire (USA).

Clearly, the three projects are closely related as they cover the applications of nanotechnology in Agriculture and Food Systems, in a broader sense (via GRC-2024) as well as in a narrower sense, by focussing on nano-enabled pesticides. The conference provided an opportunity to (i) discuss the current developments in nanotechnology for the potential benefit to the agriculture and food sector and (ii) to discuss implications on nano-pesticides for regulatory bodies, industry and research organisations.

At GRC-2024, the lectures given by high-profile speakers from different sectors catalysed lively and inspiring discussions on the potential applications of nanotechnology in food systems.

The grantees of IUPAC support to attend GRC-2024 were selected based on their academic merit and country of origin. They presented their research at the well-attended poster sessions and the meeting format provided plenty of opportunities to network. They were:

Vanessa Takeshita (University of São Paulo, Brazil); ORCID# 0000-0003-3325-0543 Felipe Franco de Oliveira (São Paulo State University, Brazil); ORCID# 0000-0001-7084-8208 Muyideen Olaitan Bamidele (Autonomous University of Coahuila, Mexico); ORCID# 0000-0003-2473-2903 Anju, (Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi); ORCID# 0000-0002-7569-5674

Vanessa Takeshita (University of São Paulo, Brazil)

Felipe Franco de Oliveira (São Paulo State University, Brazil)

Muyideen Olaitan Bamidele (Autonomous University of Coahuila, Mexico)

Anju, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi

Our awardees were extremely grateful and enthusiastic about their experience:

“It was the best scientific meeting experience I had by far.”
“It was the most interesting conference that I have ever been to.”
“I am honoured to have been selected as a recipient of an IUPAC grant, which will greatly assist me in covering some of the expenses associated with attending the conference.”

The project members of the IUPAC projects #2016-016-2-600 and #2017-035-2-600 attending the conference discussed the potential future activities involving regulatory bodies, industry and research organisations on nano-enabled pesticides.

About the authors

Melanie Kah

Melanie Kah is at The University of Auckland, New Zealand

Rai Kookana

Rai Kookana at CSIRO/ University of Adelaide, Australia

Published Online: 2024-10-16

Published in Print: 2024-10-01

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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