Nanotechnology offers great opportunities for numerous sectors in society. One important challenge in sustainable nanotechnology is the potential of trophic transfer of nanomaterials (NMs), which may lead to unintentional impacts on environmental and human health. Here, we highlight the key advances that have been made in recent 15 years with respect to trophic transfer of heterogeneous NMs, including metal-based NMs, carbon-based NMs and nanoplastics, across various aquatic and terrestrial food chains. Particle number-based trophic transfer factors (TTFs), rather than the variable mass-based TTFs, capture the particle-specific transfer, for which NMs exhibit dynamic and complex biotransformation (e.g., dissolution, sulfidation, reduction, and corona formation). Trophic transfer of NMs has toxicological significance to predators at molecular (e.g., increased oxidative stress and modified metabolites), physiological (e.g., feeding inhibition) and population (e.g., reproduction inhibition) levels. However, linking NM exposure and toxicity remains a challenge, partly due to the dynamic biotransformation along the food chain. Although NMs have been used to increase crop yield in agriculture, they can exert detrimental impacts on crop yield and modify crop quality, depending on NMs type, exposure dose, and crop species, with unknown consequences to human health via crop consumption. Given this information, we describe the challenges and opportunities in understanding the significance of NMs trophic transfer to develop more sustainable, effective and safer nanotechnology.

纳米技术为社会众多部门提供了巨大的机遇。可持续纳米技术的一项重要挑战是纳米材料（NM）的营养转移潜力，这可能会对环境和人类健康造成无意的影响。在此，我们重点介绍近 15 年来在跨各种水生和陆地食物链的异质 NM 营养转移方面取得的关键进展，包括金属基 NM、碳基 NM 和纳米塑料。基于颗粒数量的营养转移因子 (TTF)，而不是基于可变质量的 TTF，捕获颗粒特异性转移，为此 NM 表现出动态和复杂的生物转化（例如，溶解、硫化、还原和电晕形成）。NM 的营养转移对捕食者在分子（例如增加氧化应激和改变代谢物）、生理（例如摄食抑制）和种群（例如繁殖抑制）水平上具有毒理学意义。然而，将 NM 暴露与毒性联系起来仍然是一个挑战，部分原因是食物链上的动态生物转化。尽管纳米材料已被用于提高农业作物产量，但它们可能对作物产量产生不利影响并改变作物质量，具体取决于纳米材料类型、暴露剂量和作物种类，通过作物消费对人类健康产生未知的后果。鉴于这些信息，我们描述了理解 NM 营养转移的重要性以开发更可持续、有效和更安全的纳米技术的挑战和机遇。