Giovanni Pagano
Federico II Naples University, Italy
Title: Rare Earth Elements as Emergent Contaminants in Environmental and Human Health
Biography
Biography: Giovanni Pagano
Abstract
An extensive number of industrial and medical applications involve the use of rare earth elements (REEs). Growing
information is available to date on REE-associated biological effects, including bioassays on animal models and human
health effects following environmental REE exposures. Action mechanisms in REE-associated health effects include a
number of end points such as oxidative stress, organ-specific toxicity, growth inhibition, cytogenetic effects and embryonic
malformations. We have reported on the comparative effects on sea urchin early life stages of an set of 11 REEs [from Y(III) to
Lu(III)] that induce a number of adverse effects including developmental defects in REE-exposed embryos and in the offspring
of REE-exposed sperm, cytogenetic damage and redox anomalies. The results showed the following outcomes: (1) An overall
higher toxicity of heavy vs. light REEs, (2) distinct effects among individual elements and (3) highest effects exerted by a group
of heavy REEs including Gd(III), Dy(III), Ho(III), Er(III) and Yb(III). An on-going study is focused on associating the REE
levels in some complex mixtures such as bauxite residues, in order to verify the relation between REE content and mixture
toxicity as assessed by preliminary results. Further research priorities should provide warning about the use of most toxic
REEs. Most relevant research lines should be designed in mammalians and human exposures, namely by performing life-long
exposures in animal models and by undertaking epidemiologic investigations.