What do we know about the ecotoxicological implications of the rare earth element gadolinium in aquatic ecosystems?

Trapasso, Giacomo; Chiesa, Stefania; Freitas, Rosa; Pereira, Eduarda

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146273

Cited by 65 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 126 publications

(233 reference statements)

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“…REE extraction and processing into commercial products have grown exponentially in recent years and have raised environmental concerns about their release into aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. Increased concentrations of REEs have been reported in lakes, rivers, and marine environments, making the removal of REEs from wastewater almost impossible [ 2 , 5 , 7 ]. The ratio of the concentration of a chemical in biota to that in ambient water is called the bioconcentration factor (BCF) and depends on many parameters; in the case of lanthanides, it depends on the type, the exposure concentration, and the microorganism considered [ 8 ].…”

Section: Rare Earth Elementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Being at first generally considered safe, the use of Gd in medicine has grown exponentially in the last decades, leading to a consequent increase in its emission into the environment, although its use has later been linked to nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) disease [ 16 , 17 ]. Indeed, in 2016, an annual emission of 4 tons of Gd has been estimated in Germany and to 19 tons in Europe [ 5 , 7 , 18 ]. Increasing concentrations of Gd have been found in rivers, where it passed from the geogenic background of a few ng/L to about 100 µg, with peaks of 1 mg, per liter [ 5 , 7 , 18 , 19 ].…”

Section: Gadoliniummentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, in 2016, an annual emission of 4 tons of Gd has been estimated in Germany and to 19 tons in Europe [ 5 , 7 , 18 ]. Increasing concentrations of Gd have been found in rivers, where it passed from the geogenic background of a few ng/L to about 100 µg, with peaks of 1 mg, per liter [ 5 , 7 , 18 , 19 ]. High Gd concentrations have also been found in drinking water [ 3 ].…”

Section: Gadoliniummentioning

confidence: 99%

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Toxicological Impact of Rare Earth Elements (REEs) on the Reproduction and Development of Aquatic Organisms Using Sea Urchins as Biological Models

Martino

Chianese

Chiarelli

et al. 2022

IJMS

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The growing presence of lanthanides in the environment has drawn the attention of the scientific community on their safety and toxicity. The sources of lanthanides in the environment include diagnostic medicine, electronic devices, permanent magnets, etc. Their exponential use and the poor management of waste disposal raise serious concerns about the quality and safety of the ecosystems at a global level. This review focused on the impact of lanthanides in marine organisms on reproductive fitness, fertilization and embryonic development, using the sea urchin as a biological model system. Scientific evidence shows that exposure to lanthanides triggers a wide variety of toxic insults, including reproductive performance, fertilization, redox metabolism, embryogenesis, and regulation of embryonic gene expression. This was thoroughly demonstrated for gadolinium, the most widely used lanthanide in diagnostic medicine, whose uptake in sea urchin embryos occurs in a time- and concentration-dependent manner, correlates with decreased calcium absorption and primarily affects skeletal growth, with incorrect regulation of the skeletal gene regulatory network. The results collected on sea urchin embryos demonstrate a variable sensitivity of the early life stages of different species, highlighting the importance of testing the effects of pollution in different species. The accumulation of lanthanides and their emerging negative effects make risk assessment and consequent legislative intervention on their disposal mandatory.

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Section: Rare Earth Elementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Gadoliniummentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Gadoliniummentioning

confidence: 99%

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Toxicological Impact of Rare Earth Elements (REEs) on the Reproduction and Development of Aquatic Organisms Using Sea Urchins as Biological Models

Martino

Chianese

Chiarelli

et al. 2022

IJMS

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“…REE are released along their life cycle into all environmental compartments (water, soil, and atmosphere). Possible sources are mining (Liang et al, 2014;Hao et al, 2016;Guo et al, 2019;Liu et al, 2019), industry (Kulkarni et al, 2006;Bau, 2013, 2011;Klaver et al, 2014), medical uses (Bau and Dulski, 1996;Trapasso et al, 2021), agriculture (Sadeghi et al, 2013;Möller et al, 2014) and e-waste management (Gwenzi et al, 2018). The presence of anthropogenic REE in aquatic systems leads to positive anomalies (Song et al, 2017), raising environmental concern.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nd is one of the most used REE, especially in permanent magnets (Campbell, 2014). Gd is the most common anthropogenic REE found in worldwide natural waters (Rogowska et al, 2018;Louis et al, 2020;Trapasso et al, 2021). Yb ecotoxicity has been very poorly studied compared to other REE, and thus, should be investigated as a priority (Blinova et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated environmental risk assessment of rare earth elements mixture on aquatic ecosystems

Lachaux

Cossu-Leguille

Poirier

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Rare Earth elements (REE) have become essential in strategical sectors such as high- and green-technologies. Their increasing use in human activities worldwide leads to anthropogenic REE releases detectable in all compartments of the environment, transforming REE into emerging contaminants. However, their potential impacts on ecosystems are still poorly understood. In order to have a comprehensive understanding of REE ecotoxicology and to properly assess their environmental risk, we analysed the toxicity of three representative REE (neodymium Nd, gadolinium Gd, and ytterbium Yb). Following recommendations of the European Chemicals Agency, we assessed REE hazard by performing standard ecotoxicological tests on three freshwater species belonging to different trophic levels (algae, crustacean and fish). EC50 were calculated using different modes of expression of REE exposure concentration (based on nominal, measured total and dissolved concentrations) in order to more properly and accurately determine REE toxicity. In order to get closer to environmental conditions, we also tested the toxicity of REE in mixture because all of them occur naturally as such in the environment. Moreover, we added dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the test medium because DOM is ubiquitous and drives REE speciation in freshwater systems. The Results showed that DOM significantly reduced REE bioaccumulation and toxicity, probably by formation of non-bioavailable REE-DOM complexes. The algal species was the most sensitive to REE. Despite slight differences between Nd, Gd and Yb in behaviour and bioaccumulation, the three REE exhibited comparable toxicity and additive effects in mixture to all tested organisms. Thus, we considered REE as a uniform group and, for the first time, we used mixture toxicity values and environmental mixture concentrations to assess the risk of REE in freshwater (instead of considering different REE separately). The results revealed that the risk is currently limited to wastewater treatment plants, and industrial and mining activities, where released quantities of REE can induce severe damage to exposed freshwater organisms. However, the risks are likely more widespread in the future because anthropogenic REE releases are expected to increase.

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Emerging Nanomaterials as Radio-Sensitizer in Radiotherapy

Kiran

Shad

Sajid

et al. 2022

Harnessing Materials for X-Ray Based Cancer Therapy and Imaging

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What do we know about the ecotoxicological implications of the rare earth element gadolinium in aquatic ecosystems?

Cited by 65 publications

References 126 publications

Toxicological Impact of Rare Earth Elements (REEs) on the Reproduction and Development of Aquatic Organisms Using Sea Urchins as Biological Models

Toxicological Impact of Rare Earth Elements (REEs) on the Reproduction and Development of Aquatic Organisms Using Sea Urchins as Biological Models

Integrated environmental risk assessment of rare earth elements mixture on aquatic ecosystems

Emerging Nanomaterials as Radio-Sensitizer in Radiotherapy

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