Two University of Kentucky scientists are part of a newly established international consortium investigating the environmental impacts of nanotechnology-based agrochemicals.
The three-year $1.2 million grant entitled Fate and Effects of Agriculturally Relevant Materials (NanoFARM) was funded by the European Union and the U.S. National Science Foundation through the European Area Research Networks (ERA-NET). Typically this is a program for scientists in E.U. member states, but this year the U.S. participated in the program by providing funding through various agencies, enabling participation of U.S. researchers.
The project will investigate the behavior and transport of commercial fertilizers and fungicides that contain nanomaterials. It will investigate the behavior, environmental transport and toxicity of these materials as well as entry into food chains including uptake of nanomaterials into crops consumed by humans.
More information is available at: http://news.ca.uky.edu/article/uk-part-international-consortium-investigating-environmental-impacts-nanotechnology-based-ag
