Frontiers in Environmental Science (Aug 2022)

A first attempt to evaluate the toxicity to Phaeodactylum tricornutum Bohlin exposed to rare earth elements

  • Antonietta Siciliano,
  • Manuela Sabatino,
  • Antonietta Paone,
  • Edith Guadalupe Padilla Suarez,
  • Maria Toscanesi,
  • Antonios Apostolos Brouziotis,
  • Antonios Apostolos Brouziotis,
  • Edvige Gambino,
  • Lorenzo Saviano,
  • Marco Trifuoggi,
  • Marco Trifuoggi,
  • Marco Guida,
  • Marco Guida,
  • Giovanni Libralato

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.957943
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10

Abstract

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The increasing use and demand of rare earth elements in many emerging technologies is leading to a potentially higher input to the marine environment. This study compared for the first time the effect of lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), neodymium (Nd), samarium (Sm), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), dysprosium (Dy), and erbium (Er) to the microalga Phaeodactylum tricornutum Bohlin. The algal growth inhibition was investigated after 72 h of exposure. The median effect concentrations (EC50) ranged from 0.98 mg/L to 13.21 mg/L and elements were ranked as follows: Gd > Ce > Er > La > Eu > Nd > Dy > Sm. The comparison of predicted no effect concentrations (PNEC) for hazard and risk assessment with measured environmental concentrations showed that ecological risks deriving from REEs could be present, but limited to specific environments like estuarine waters. The results support evidence of actions to manage the REE impact in seawater environments, looking to improve the monitoring tailored to the different and dynamic nature of ecosystems.

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