Exposure Potential and Health Impacts of Indium and Gallium, Metals Critical to Emerging Electronics and Energy Technologies

White, Sarah Jane O.; Shine, James P.

doi:10.1007/s40572-016-0118-8

Cited by 59 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…In general, lung tissues are principal parts for PM accumulation in human body. Accordingly, toxicity of Ga and In primarily affects lung tissues as well [43]. Considering that adverse impacts of coal-related PM on human health depend on its chemical components [142,143], enrichment of Ga and In in No.…”

Section: Discussion On Potential Health Risks Of Enriched Ga and In Imentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In some cases, understanding on pernicousness from specific elements is gradually improved with the development of emerging industrial and surge usage of the elements. It is noteworthy that Ga and In, which show enrichment in some coal seams from Pingshuo Mine District, Ningwu Coalfield, Shanxi Province, have been recognized as potential harmful elements in recent years because of increased industrial use in photovoltaics and integrated circuit [43,44] which may translate into increased environmental concentrations and high exposure level to human [45]. Because of the capacity of providing efficient optical transitions and high electron mobility, Ga and its compounds are widely applied in integrated circuits, semiconductors and optoelectronic devices, and also used in metal alloys, nuclear weapons, and medication [46][47][48].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Enrichment Mechanisms of Gallium and Indium in No. 9 Coals in Anjialing Mine, Ningwu Coalfield, North China, with a Preliminary Discussion on Their Potential Health Risks

Zhang

Hao

Tian³

et al. 2021

Minerals

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To provide a comprehensive insight into the enrichment mechanism of gallium and indium in No. 9 coals, eighteen samples were collected from Anjialing mine, Ningwu Coalfield, Shanxi Province for coal petrological, mineralogical and geochemical analyses. The results suggested that Ga and In enrichment mainly hosted in the top horizons, with average concentration coefficients of 8.99 and 2.73 respectively, compared with the rest of horizons (2.46 for Ga and 1.69 for In). Source apportionment indicated that Ga and In were mainly derived from bauxite of Benxi Formation in Yinshan Oldland, while In could originate from felsic magmatic rocks in Yinshan Oldland as well. In addition, weak oxidation condition, medium to intensive weathering, transgression and input of terrestrial higher plants had positive effects on Ga and In enrichment. With the rapid expansion of emerging electronics manufacturing, Ga and In, of which potential risks on human health were neglected previously, were recently considered as hazardous elements. Therefore, this paper also discussed the potential pathways that these elements threatened human health. We suggested that potential risks on environment and human health caused by Ga and In enrichment in coals and coal-related products should be taken into account besides their economic value.

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Section: Discussion On Potential Health Risks Of Enriched Ga and In Imentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enrichment Mechanisms of Gallium and Indium in No. 9 Coals in Anjialing Mine, Ningwu Coalfield, North China, with a Preliminary Discussion on Their Potential Health Risks

Zhang

Hao

Tian³

et al. 2021

Minerals

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“…This is especially valid if the nanowires are produced in aerosol phase, which would increase the risk of airborne exposure, and if they are bio persistent. Ions of arsenic are highly toxic to humans and gallium may have a significant toxicity and may cause cancer (US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), 1987; White and Shine, 2016). Probably, the toxicities of gallium arsenide are related primarily to the arsenic component of this compound, but other gallium compounds display antineoplastic and antimicrobial activities (Chitambar, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Workplace Emissions and Exposures During Semiconductor Nanowire Production, Post-production, and Maintenance Work

Isaxon

Lovén

Ludvigsson

et al. 2019

Annals of Work Exposures and Health

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BackgroundNanowires are a high-aspect-ratio material of increasing interest for a wide range of applications. A new and promising method to produce nanowires is by aerotaxy, where the wires are grown in a continuous stream of gas. The aerotaxy method can grow nanowires much faster than by more conventional methods. Nanowires have important properties in common with asbestos fibers, which indicate that there can be potential health effects if exposure occurs. No conclusive exposure (or emission) data from aerotaxy-production of nanowires has so far been published.MethodsDifferent work tasks during semiconductor nanowire production, post-production, and maintenance were studied. A combination of direct-reading instruments for number concentration (0.007–20 µm) and filter sampling was used to assess the emissions (a couple of centimeter from the emission sources), the exposure in the personal breathing zone (max 30 cm from nose–mouth), and the concentrations in the background zone (at least 3 m from any emission source). The filters were analyzed for metal dust composition and number concentration of nanowires. Various surfaces were sampled for nanowire contamination.ResultsThe particle concentrations in the emission zone (measured with direct-reading instruments) were elevated during cleaning of arc discharge, manual reactor cleaning, exchange of nanowire outflow filters, and sonication of substrates with nanowires. In the case of cleaning of the arc discharge and manual reactor cleaning, the emissions affected the concentrations in the personal breathing zone and were high enough to also affect the concentrations in the background. Filter analysis with electron microscopy could confirm the presence of nanowires in some of the air samples.ConclusionsOur results show that a major part of the potential for exposure occurs not during the actual manufacturing, but during the cleaning and maintenance procedures. The exposures and emissions were evaluated pre- and post-upscaling the production and showed that some work tasks (e.g. exchange of nanowire outflow filters and sonication of substrates with nanowires) increased the emissions post-upscaling.

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“…However, due to the rapid growth in use of gallium, knowledge of its toxicity and human exposure has been overlooked due to its use, and there is no standard limit for gallium exposure in humans. Nevertheless, gallium is shown to accumulate in inflammatory tissue and at concentrations higher than 50 µg/mL induces cytotoxic effects and immune cells' apoptosis [3,4]. Therefore, the removal of gallium from aqueous solutions has become an important objective.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

H-Clinoptilolite as an Efficient and Low-Cost Adsorbent for Batch and Continuous Gallium Removal from Aqueous Solutions

Sáez

Rodrı́guez

Gómez

et al. 2021

J. Sustain. Metall.

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In this paper, the gallium (III) ions’ adsorption onto protonated clinoptilolite (H-CLP) was investigated both in batch and fixed-bed column experiments. Regarding batch experiments, the influence of some parameters such as adsorbent dosage, size particle, and temperature was studied, determining that a dosage of 10 g/L for an initial pollutant concentration of 40 mg/L leads to a removal percentage over 85% regardless of particle size and temperature. On the other hand, adsorption of gallium onto H-CPL is an endothermic and spontaneous process in the studied temperature range, concluding that the maximum adsorption capacity was 16 mg/g for 60 °C. Concerning to the effect of the presence of other cations in solution, such as Na+, K+, or Ca2+, gallium adsorption capacity only drops by 20%, although the initial concentration of other cations in the solution is 50 times higher than gallium concentration. This means that clinoptilolite has a high affinity for gallium which can be very favorable for further selectivity tests. A crucial factor for this high selectivity could be the protonation of clinoptilolite which allows working without modifying the pH of the aqueous solution with acid. In the fixed-bed experiments, breakthrough curves were obtained, and the effect of operation variables was determined. A breakpoint value of 254 min for 64 g of adsorbent and flow rate of 9.0 mL/min (7.0 BV/h) were obtained, when treating a pollutant volume of 33 BV. Additionally, the breakthrough curves were fitted to different models to study the particle size effect, being the best fit corresponding to the Adams–Bohart model. This fact confirmed the influence of particle size on adsorption kinetics. Graphical Abstract

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Exposure Potential and Health Impacts of Indium and Gallium, Metals Critical to Emerging Electronics and Energy Technologies

Cited by 59 publications

References 62 publications

Enrichment Mechanisms of Gallium and Indium in No. 9 Coals in Anjialing Mine, Ningwu Coalfield, North China, with a Preliminary Discussion on Their Potential Health Risks

Enrichment Mechanisms of Gallium and Indium in No. 9 Coals in Anjialing Mine, Ningwu Coalfield, North China, with a Preliminary Discussion on Their Potential Health Risks

Workplace Emissions and Exposures During Semiconductor Nanowire Production, Post-production, and Maintenance Work

H-Clinoptilolite as an Efficient and Low-Cost Adsorbent for Batch and Continuous Gallium Removal from Aqueous Solutions

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