ON THE QUESTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS OF RARE-EARTH METALS

Problem of rare earth metals (REM) and the possible danger of rare earth metals for human health are considered in the article. The main drawbacks of modern methods for studying the toxicity of rare-earth metals are given. Particular attention is paid to the possibility of using bioassay to determine the toxicity of rare earth metals. The method of bioassay on the basis of galvanotaxis, using multiple exposure to test organisms, representing symbiosis of Paramecium bursaria and green algae Chlorella, is considered. This method is effective for studying the toxicity of rare earth metals, since the effect of the toxicity of rare earth metals on the Paramecium bursaria has not only a lethal effect, but also Paramecium bursaria reports the presence of rare earth metals by reducing electrically forced mobility. This study was designed to test whether the Paramecium bursarias are applicable, in the development of a biosensor based on the detected reaction to detect a certain concentration of rare earth metals.

Authors: I. S. Zakharov, L. V. Kontrosh, A. V. Hramov, O. I. Shumilov

Direction: Instrument Engineering and Information-Measurement Technologies

Keywords: Rare earth metals, inductively coupled plasma spectrometry, atomic emission spectroscopy, neutron activation analysis, bioassay, galvanotaxis, Paramecium bursaria, biosensor

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