“…In general, the toxicity of copper compounds has been exploited to protect agricultural crops from many pests, including those causing fungal infections (Montes et al, 2015;Kalatehjari et al, 2015;Bramhanwade et al, 2016;Epstein and Bassein, 2001;Begum et al, 2015;Fan et al, 2011;El-Habbaa et al, 2016;Wightwick et al, 2008;Stansly and Kostyk, 2015;Thind and Singh, 2015;Ferreira et al, 2007), and copper pesticides are now applied on some "organic" crops (Baker et al, 2002;Winter and Davis, 2006). Their use as an antimicrobial agent has also been considered in several applications (Emam et al, 2014;Shebl, 2014;Mjos et al, 2016;Congrádyová et al, 2014). Accordingly, there is a pressing need for a systematic evaluation of Cu NPs related to their environmental fate, bioavailability, release of Cu + and Cu + 2 ions, and toxicity.…”