Mitigating Metal Toxicity in Plants Using Nanoparticles: Mechanisms and Implications for Sustainable Agriculture

Conventional agriculture's reliance on chemical inputs poses risks to human health and the environment. Nanotechnology offers a promising alternative through engineered nanoparticles (NPs) that have a high surface area, solubility, and reactivity. This review highlights how NPs mitigate metal toxicity and soil acidification by enhancing nutrient delivery and reducing phytotoxicity. We discuss NP-soil-plant interactions, including uptake, translocation, and physiological responses, at the cellular and molecular levels. Ecotoxicological concerns, such as NP accumulation, microbial disruption, and long-term effects, are addressed. Innovative strategies like stimuli-responsive release systems and NP-microbiome co-delivery platforms are explored to improve efficacy and safety. NPs significantly enhance plant resilience by increasing antioxidant enzyme activities by up to 60%, improving nutrient uptake efficiency, and boosting plant growth by 15-55% under aluminum stress conditions across various species, including Brassica napus. This perspective identifies key knowledge gaps and offers future perspectives, positioning nanotechnology as a sustainable tool to enhance crop productivity under metal stress while maintaining ecological balance.