4th - 8th Sept. 2016: 9th International Symposium on the Industrial Applications of the Mössbauer Effect (ISIAME 2016)

[Z. Klencsar]

The 9th International Symposium on the Industrial Applications of the Mössbauer Effect (ISIAME 2016) was held in between 4th and 8th of September 2016, in Cape Town, South Africa. On the conference Ernő Kuzmann presented a poster with the title "Manufactured nanoparticles: potentially toxic agents or nutrient reservoirs for plants?", displaying results obtained among others by the means of Mössbauer spectrometry in connection with our nanoparticle samples made of iron(III)-oxihydroxide, Fe-Co alloy and Mn-Zn ferrite. The corresponding abstract can be read below, whereas the presented poster can be downloaded from http://www.esr.hu/plantnano/posters/2016_isiame.pdf

The abstract book of the conference can be downloaded from http://d.dominodeveloper.net/ap22ude/ap22ude.nsf/abstractbook.pdf.

Manufactured nanoparticles: potentially toxic agents or nutrient reservoirs for plants?

Z. Klencsár 1, K. Kovács 2, F. Fodor 3, Á. Solti 3, Gy. Tolnai 1, Z. Sándor 1, E. Szabó 1, P. Németh 1, L. Szabó 1, Z. Homonnay 2, E. Kuzmann 2

1 Institute of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
2 Institute of Chemistry, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
3 Institute of Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary

(E-mail of corresponding author: kuzmann@caesar.elte.hu)

On account of their peculiar and advantageous physicochemical properties, the magnitude and importance of production and industrial utilization of manufactured nanoparticles (MNPs) has been increasing rapidly in the last decade [1]. According to global estimates [2], worldwide production of nanomaterials exceeded the order of 10^5 t/year already in 2012. It is to be expected that a considerable fraction of MNPs will finally find its way from the industry and consumer products to different environmental compartments such as air, water and soil [1]. Despite growing concerns regarding the environmental risks of MNPs, as of today, knowledge about their transport, possible transformations, final fate and concentration in the ecosystems is scarce [3]. Even more alarming is the lack of comprehensive knowledge/understanding of the nature and mechanisms of the effects of MNPs on their possible host ecosystems and the associated living organisms such as algae, plants, and fungi, which are expected to be affected by an exposure to MNPs [4]. Particularly, research related to the effect of MNPs on soil was reported to be virtually absent as of 2008 [4], even though for MNP classes with antibacterial activity (e.g., Ag and ZnO nanoparticles) negative effects could definitely be expected to occur [4]. At the same time, deliberate exposure of ecosystems to selected nanoparticles may also turn out to be advantageous. Iron-containing MNPs, for example, can be potentially beneficial to ecosystems involving plants, given that iron is among the most important transition metal plant nutrients, and its deficiency is a most limiting factor of plant biomass production [5]. In the frame of the present work we set out to explore the effects of iron-based nanoparticles on plants. Reliable knowledge concerning these effects can only be gained if the nanoparticle agent being subject of the study is properly characterized for its relevant physico-chemical attributes. Consequently, the application of a wide range of experimental techniques from the fields of physics, chemistry and biology is required in order to perform the preparation of nanoparticle samples, to carry out their morphological, structural and magnetic characterization, as well as to assess their effects on plants via controlled plant-growth experiments under laboratory conditions. One of the most adequate methods for the characterization of the chemical forms of iron in nanoparticle agents as well as in plant tissues is 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy [6,7]. In this contribution we present recent results obtained in connection with iron-containing nano-particle agents and their effects on the growth and physiological activity of cucumber (Cucumis staivus) plant.

Acknowledgement. This work was supported by the Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office - NKFIH, K115784 and K115913.

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[2] F. Piccinno, F. Gottschalk, S. Seeger, B. Nowack, J. Nanopart. Res. 14 (2012) 1109.
[3] J.D. Posner, Nano Today 4 (2009) 114.
[4] E. Navarro, A. Baun, R. Behra, N.B. Hartmann, J. Filser, A. Miao, A. Quigg, P.H. Santschi, L. Sigg, Ecotoxicology 17 (2008) 372.
[5] J. Abadía, S. Vázquez, R. Rellán-Álvarez, H. El-Jendoubi, A. Abadía, A. Álvarez-Fernández, A.F. López-Millán, Plant. Phys. Biochem. 49 (2011) 471.
[6] K. Kovács, E. Kuzmann, E. Tatár, A. Vértes, F. Fodor, Planta 229 (2009) 271.
[7] K. Kovács, J. Pechoušek, L. Machala, R. Zbořil, Z. Klencsár, Á. Solti, B. Tóth, B. Müller, H.D. Pham, Z. Kristóf, F. Fodor, Planta (2016) http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00425-016-2502-x