Investigation of Environmental and Biological Effects of Rare Earth Elements (REEs) with a Special Focus on Industrial and Mining Pollutions in Iran: A Review

Authors

  • Aref Shirazi

    Department of Mining and Metallurgy Engineering Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran, Iran
  • Adel Shirazy

    Department of Mining and Metallurgy Engineering Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran, Iran
  • Amin Beiranvand Pour

    Institute of Oceanography and Environment (INOS), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), Malaysia
  • Ardeshir Hezarkhani

    Department of Mining and Metallurgy Engineering Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran, Iran
  • Shayan Khakmardan

    Department of Mining and Metallurgy Engineering Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran, Iran

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/agger.v4i1.4290

Abstract

The present article is a review study on the types of rare earth elements (REEs), environmental and biological effects as well as the sources of emission of these elements as pollution in nature. The purpose of this study is to provide a vision in environmental planning and control of pollution caused by REEs. The evaluation of rare earth elements was studied in human life and its environmental and biological effects, which have particular importance and are entering the life cycle through industrial and mining pollution sources. Since mining activities intensify the dispersion of these elements in the environment and the existence of industrial factories located around urban drainage system plays a unique role in creating and spreading pollution caused by rare earth elements; As a result, two case studies were conducted on two mining and industrial areas. The first case is the Choghart mine in Yazd province as an example of mining pollution,and the second case study is performed on the Kor river as an example of industrial pollution which is caused by industrial activities around it, Then the results are well explained to show both two environments of litho and hydro. Due to this fact that produced environmental pollution can cause exchange pollutant compounds with the surrounding environment besides its long-lasting destructive effects; It can cause irreversible biological effects on living organisms. By targeting this evaluation, several techniques can be proposed to prevent the entry and dispersal of rare earth elements from pollution sources besides methods to reduce the damage of these elements to the ecosystem.

Keywords:

Environment; Rare earth elements; Pollution; Disease; Kor river; Choghart mine; Life cycle

References

[1] Wall, F., 2014. Rare earth elements. Critical metals handbook. pp. 312-339.

[2] Humphries, M., 2010. Rare earth elements: the global supply chain. Diane Publishing.

[3] Martin, W., Zalubas, R., Hagan, L., 1978. Atomic energy levels-the rare earth elements.(the spectra of lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium,terbium,dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium,and lutetium).[66 atoms and ions]. Manchester Coll.of Science and Technology (UK). Dept. of Chemistry.

[4] Henderson, P., 1984. General geochemical properties and abundances of the rare earth elements, in Developments in geochemistry. Elsevier. pp. 1-32.

[5] Schmitt, R., et al., 1963. Abundances of the fourteen rare-earth elements, scandium, and yttrium in meteoritic and terrestrial matter. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 27(6), 577-622.

[6] Shirazi, A., et al., 2018. Remote sensing studies for mapping of iron oxide regions, South of Kerman,Iran. International Journal of Science and Engineering Applications. 7(4), 45-51.

[7] Lehmann, B., 2014. Economic geology of rare earth elements in 2014: a global perspective.European Geologist. 37, 21-24.

[8] Shirazy, A., et al., 2019. Geochemical and geostatistical studies for estimating gold grade in tarq prospect area by k-means clustering method. Open Journal of Geology. 9(6), 306-326.

[9] Shirazy, A., Shirazi, A., Hezarkhani, A., 2018. Predicting gold grade in Tarq 1: 100000 geochemical map using the behavior of gold, Arsenic and Antimony by K-means method. Journal of Mineral Resources Engineering. 2(4), 11-23.

[10] Shirazy, A., Ziaii, M., Hezarkhani, A., 2020. Geochemical Behavior Investigation Based on K-means and Artificial Neural Network Prediction for Copper,in Kivi region, Ardabil province, IRAN. Iranian Journal of Mining Engineering. 14(45), 96-112.

[11] Mariano, A.N., 2018. Economic geology of rare earth elements. Geochemistry and mineralogy of rare earth elements. 309-338.

[12] Shirazy, A., et al., 2021. Geophysical study: Estimation of deposit depth using gravimetric data and Euler method (Jalalabad iron mine, kerman province of IRAN). Open Journal of Geology.

[13] Long, K.R., et al., 2012. The principal rare earth elements deposits of the United States: A summary of domestic deposits and a global perspective, in Non-renewable resource issues. Springer. pp. 131-155.

[14] Rokade, V. Medical Geology: Integrated Study of Geochemistry and Health.

[15] Panichev, A., 2015. Rare earth elements: review of medical and biological properties and their abundance in the rock materials and mineralized spring waters in the context of animal and human geophagia reasons evaluation. Achievements in the life sciences. 9(2), 95-103.

[16] Mackizadeh, M.A., Taghipour, B., 2011.Geology,geochemistry and behavior of rare earth element in the hydrothermal alteration zones, Karkas Mountain North of Isfahan. Iranian Journal of Petrology. 2(8), 55-68.

[17] Liang, T., Li, K., Wang, L., 2014. State of rare earth elements in different environmental components in mining areas of China. Environmental monitoring and assessment. 186(3), 1499-1513.

[18] Shirazi, A., et al., 2018. Exploration Geochemistry Data-Application for Cu Anomaly Separation Based On Classical and Modern Statistical Methods in South Khorasan, Iran. International Journal of Science and Engineering Applications. 7, 39-44.

[19] Shirazy, A., et al., 2020. Geostatistical and remote sensing studies to identify high metallogenic potential regions in the Kivi area of Iran. Minerals. 10(10),869.

[20] Haque, N., et al., 2014. Rare earth elements: Overview of mining, mineralogy, uses, sustainability and environmental impact. Resources. 3(4), 614-635.

[21] Reid, S., et al., 2017. Technospheric mining of rare earth elements from bauxite residue (red mud): Prcess optimization, kinetic investigation, and microwave pretreatment. Scientific reports. 7(1), 1-9.

[22] Pagano, G., et al., 2015. Rare earth elements in human and animal health: state of art and research priorities. Environmental research. 142, 215-220.

[23] Haxel, G., 2002. Rare earth elements: critical resources for high technology. US Department of the Interior, US Geological Survey. Vol. 87.

[24] Li, X., et al., 2013. A human health risk assessment of rare earth elements in soil and vegetables from a mining area in Fujian Province, Southeast China.Chemosphere. 93(6), 1240-1246.

[25] Majidi, S., et al., 2018. Investigation on the genesis of the iron oxide-apatite±REE deposits of the Bafgh-Saghand district (Central Iran), based on oxygen isotope studies. Journal of Geoscience. 28(109), 237-244.

[26] Pazand, K., 2018. Controls on the distribution of arsenic and rare earth elements in groundwaters of the Bafgh city area, central Iran. Water Science and Technology: Water Supply. 18(5), 1590-1597.

[27] Eslamizadeh, A., 2022. Geological setting of iron oxide-apatite deposits in theBafq‎ district, central Iran with an emphasis on mineralogical, petrographic, and geochemical study of the Sechahun deposit. Iranian Journal of Earth Sciences. 8(2), 147-163.

[28] Nabilou, M., et al., 2018. Determination of relationship between basement faults and alteration zones in Bafq-Esfordi region, central Iran. Episodes Journal of International Geoscience. 41(3),143-159.

[29] Esmaeily, D., Afshooni, S., Valizadeh, M., 2009. The study of the mineralogy and Rare Earth Elements (REE) behavior in the hydrothermal alteration zones of the Astaneh granitoid massif (SW Arak, Markazi province, Iran).

[30] Sheykhi, V., Moore, F., 2013. Evaluation of potentially toxic metals pollution in the sediments of the Kor river, southwest Iran. Environmental monitoring and assessment. 185(4), 3219-3232.

[31] Förstner, U., 2004. Sediment dynamics and pollutant mobility in rivers: an interdisciplinary approach. Lakes & Reservoirs: Research & Management. 9(1), 25-40.

[32] Lu, X., et al., 2009. Contamination assessment of copper, lead, zinc, manganese and nickel in street dust of Baoji, NW China. Journal of hazardous materials. 161(2-3), 1058-1062.

Downloads

How to Cite

Shirazi, A., Shirazy, A., Pour, A. B., Hezarkhani, A., & Khakmardan, S. (2022). Investigation of Environmental and Biological Effects of Rare Earth Elements (REEs) with a Special Focus on Industrial and Mining Pollutions in Iran: A Review. Advances in Geological and Geotechnical Engineering Research, 4(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.30564/agger.v4i1.4290

Issue

Vol. 4 , Iss. 1 (January 2022)

Article Type

Review

License

Copyright © 2022 Aref Shirazi, Adel Shirazy, Amin Beiranvand Pour, Ardeshir Hezarkhani, Shayan Khakmardan

Creative Commons License

This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC