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Overview of Nanopesticide Environmental Safety Aspects and Regulatory Issues: The Case of Nanoatrazine

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Nanopesticides

Abstract

The use of nanotechnology to create new formulations has shown great potential to reduce the indiscriminate use of pesticides and provide environmentally safer alternatives. Pesticides formulated using controlled release nanosystems are designed to efficiently provide sufficient and targeted quantities of active ingredients to target organisms, thus improving crop yields and reducing environmental contamination with pesticides. However, the possible harmful effects of these nanomaterials on the environment are not yet well understood, highlighting the need for studies assessing the fate and behavior of nanopesticides in the environment. This chapter will discuss the major challenges and advances in the research regarding nanopesticide risk analysis. It will also discuss the difficulty in developing regulations about the commercialization of nanoproducts, due to the underlying specific features of nanomaterials that drive their reactivity and toxicity. Finally, the case of nanoatrazine will be reviewed, providing an example of how the nanoencapsulation can affect herbicide efficiency and influence its toxicity to different non-target organisms.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, Grant Number 2017/21004-5) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq, Grant Number 306583/2017-8) for financial support. This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Science and Technology of Sorocaba, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Sorocaba, Brazil

    Felícia Pereira de Albuquerque & Leonardo F. Fraceto

  2. Department of Animal and Plant Biology, State University of Londrina, Londrina, Brazil

    Ana Cristina Preisler & Halley Caixeta Oliveira

  3. Embrapa Environment, Jaguariúna, Brazil

    Vera Lucia S. S. de Castro

Authors
  1. Felícia Pereira de Albuquerque
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  2. Ana Cristina Preisler
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  3. Leonardo F. Fraceto
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  4. Halley Caixeta Oliveira
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  5. Vera Lucia S. S. de Castro
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Halley Caixeta Oliveira or Vera Lucia S. S. de Castro .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Science and Technology of Sorocaba, São Paulo State University, Sorocaba, São Paulo, Brazil

    Leonardo F. Fraceto

  2. Embrapa Environment, Jaguariuna, São Paulo, Brazil

    Vera Lucia S.S. de Castro

  3. Department of Physics and Chemistry, São Paulo State University, Ilha Solteira, São Paulo, Brazil

    Renato Grillo

  4. Laboratory of Biochemistry and Toxicology in Caenorhabditis Elegans, Graduation Program in Biochemistry, Federal University of Pampa, Campus Uruguaiana, Uruguaiana, Brazil

    Daiana Ávila

  5. Department of Animal and Plant Biology, State University of Londrina, Londrina, Paraná, Brazil

    Halley Caixeta Oliveira

  6. Labiton, Sorocaba University, Sorocaba, Brazil

    Renata Lima

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de Albuquerque, F.P., Preisler, A.C., Fraceto, L.F., Oliveira, H.C., de Castro, V.L.S.S. (2020). Overview of Nanopesticide Environmental Safety Aspects and Regulatory Issues: The Case of Nanoatrazine. In: Fraceto, L.F., S.S. de Castro, V.L., Grillo, R., Ávila, D., Caixeta Oliveira, H., Lima, R. (eds) Nanopesticides. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44873-8_9

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