TY - JOUR
T1 - Life cycle considerations of nano-enabled agrochemicals
T2 - Are today's tools up to the task?
AU - Pourzahedi, Leila
AU - Pandorf, Madelyn
AU - Ravikumar, Dwarakanath
AU - Zimmerman, Julie B.
AU - Seager, Thomas
AU - Theis, Thomas L.
AU - Westerhoff, Paul
AU - Gilbertson, Leanne M.
AU - Lowry, Gregory V.
N1 - Funding Information:
This publication was developed under Assistance Agreement No. RD83558001 awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and NSF CBET-1530563 (NanoFARM). This work has not been formally reviewed by EPA. The views expressed in this document are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Agency. EPA does not endorse any products or commercial services mentioned in this publication.
Funding Information:
This publication was developed under Assistance Agreement No. RD83558001 awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and NSF CBET-1530563 (NanoFARM). This work has not been formally reviewed by EPA. The views expressed in this document are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Agency.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Royal Society of Chemistry 2018.
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) used as fertilizers, pesticides and growth regulators will involve direct application of large quantities of ENMs to the environment and products intended for human consumption. Assessing their life cycle environmental impacts to mitigate unintended consequences poses several challenges. In this perspective, we identify obstacles to the application of life cycle assessment (LCA) for evaluating environmental tradeoffs of nano-enabled agrochemical applications. These include: (1) defining functional units that represent the function provided by nano-enabled agrochemicals and that are proportional to the scale of the study (nano-scale vs. field scale), (2) limitations in availability of comprehensive data necessary to inform life cycle material flow (resource use and emissions) for inventory development specific to nano-enabled agrochemical applications,(3) human and environmental exposure and effects data relevant to the agricultural context for impact assessment models, (4) spatial and temporal dependent components that can affect the results of an LCA of nano-enabled agrochemicals, and (5) high data uncertainties and the possibility of their reduction through collaborative efforts between life cycle practitioners and experimental researchers using anticipatory decision-based models. While several of these challenges are experienced in LCA of emerging technologies generally, they are highlighted herein due to their unique or heightened relevance to the use of ENMs in agriculture applications. Addressing challenges in these areas are intended to inform research prioritization to ensure safe and sustainable design, development, and implementation of nano-enabled agrochemicals.
AB - Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) used as fertilizers, pesticides and growth regulators will involve direct application of large quantities of ENMs to the environment and products intended for human consumption. Assessing their life cycle environmental impacts to mitigate unintended consequences poses several challenges. In this perspective, we identify obstacles to the application of life cycle assessment (LCA) for evaluating environmental tradeoffs of nano-enabled agrochemical applications. These include: (1) defining functional units that represent the function provided by nano-enabled agrochemicals and that are proportional to the scale of the study (nano-scale vs. field scale), (2) limitations in availability of comprehensive data necessary to inform life cycle material flow (resource use and emissions) for inventory development specific to nano-enabled agrochemical applications,(3) human and environmental exposure and effects data relevant to the agricultural context for impact assessment models, (4) spatial and temporal dependent components that can affect the results of an LCA of nano-enabled agrochemicals, and (5) high data uncertainties and the possibility of their reduction through collaborative efforts between life cycle practitioners and experimental researchers using anticipatory decision-based models. While several of these challenges are experienced in LCA of emerging technologies generally, they are highlighted herein due to their unique or heightened relevance to the use of ENMs in agriculture applications. Addressing challenges in these areas are intended to inform research prioritization to ensure safe and sustainable design, development, and implementation of nano-enabled agrochemicals.
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U2 - 10.1039/c7en01166k
DO - 10.1039/c7en01166k
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85047242812
VL - 5
SP - 1057
EP - 1069
JO - Environmental Science: Nano
JF - Environmental Science: Nano
SN - 2051-8153
IS - 5
ER -