Environmental behavior, potential phytotoxicity, and accumulation of copper oxide nanoparticles and arsenic in rice plants.

Copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) are widely used in many industries. The increasing release of CuO NPs from both intentional and unintentional sources into the environment may pose risks to rice plants, thereby reducing the quality or quantity of this staple grain in the human diet. Not only has arsenic (As) contamination decreased rice yield, but As accumulation in rice has also been a great human health concern for a few decades. New technologies have succeeded in removing As from water by nanomaterials. By all accounts, few studies have addressed CuO NP phytotoxicity to rice, and the interactions of CuO NPs with As are poorly described. The present study 1) reviews studies about the environmental behavior and phytotoxicity of CuO NPs and As and research about the interaction of CuO NPs with As in the environment, 2) discusses critically the potential mechanisms of CuO NP and As toxicity in plants and their interaction, and 3) proposes future research directions for solving the As problem in rice. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:11-20. © 2017 SETAC.