Holistic view for the safe use of nanomaterials at permissible level for plant production

Abstract

There are a variety of nanomaterials in use by numerous industries. Generally, nanomaterials can be classified into several categories such as nanoparticles, nanotubes and nanofibers, nanofilms, nanoblock, Nanocomposites, and nanocrystalline solids (Aslani et al., 2014). The terminology “nanomaterial” was recommended and proposed by European Commission in October 2011. Based on the terminology by The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) TS 80004-1, materials that possess at least one of the external dimensions or internal structure within the size range of 1 100 nm (1 nm 5 1029 m 5 0.000000001 m) is called nanomaterials. In the ISO 80004-1 standard, two families of nanomaterials, namely nano-objects and nanostructured materials, were identified. Nano-objects, usually applied in the form of powder, liquid suspension, and gel form, referred to the materials having one to three nano-scaled dimensions. Materials that are classified under nano-objects are (1) nanoparticles; (2) nanofibers, nano- tubes, nanofilaments, or nanorods; and (3) nanoplates. Meanwhile, another class of nanomaterial called nanostructured materials are the materials that possess nano-scaled internal structure.