The potential environmental risks associated with the development of rare earth element production in Canada
The development of rare earth element (REE) production in Canada could generate significant economic benefits, but also poses serious potential risks to the environment. Rare earth elements have been widely used in modern life and industries, and even are indispensable in some crucial advanced techn...
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University of Toronto
2021
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ftunivtoronto:oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/106975 2023-05-15T15:04:54+02:00 The potential environmental risks associated with the development of rare earth element production in Canada YIN, XIANGBO Martineau, Christine Demers, Isabelle Basiliko, Nathan Fenton, Nicole J. 2021-03-04 application/pdf application/msword http://hdl.handle.net/1807/106975 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/er-2020-0115 unknown University of Toronto 1208-6053 http://hdl.handle.net/1807/106975 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/er-2020-0115 Review Article Post-Print 2021 ftunivtoronto 2021-10-31T18:16:32Z The development of rare earth element (REE) production in Canada could generate significant economic benefits, but also poses serious potential risks to the environment. Rare earth elements have been widely used in modern life and industries, and even are indispensable in some crucial advanced technologies (e.g. permanent magnets). Increasing demand and the context of current US-China trade tensions provide a commercial economic development opportunity for Canada, which has rich resources of REEs, to develop its own sector. However, environmental and health issues caused by REE production are challenges Canada has to face, given that significant environmental impacts have been reported elsewhere (e.g. China). Little literature is available on the potential environmental risks associated with the development of REE production in Canada. It is important to know what environmental issues, particularly those generated by REEs themselves, may happen in Canada in the future. Therefore, three major aspects are evaluated and summarized from multidisciplinary perspectives in this paper: 1) a general conceptual model of the transport of REEs as a group in the environment is established; 2) toxicity levels, biochemical mechanisms, and physiological effects of REEs on different organisms are reviewed, and case-studies from existing REE mining areas are briefly highlighted; and 3) considering specific environmental condition and risk factors, environmental risks Canada may face in future REE developments are identified and discussed. This review concludes with a macro-identification of potential environmental risks associated with the development of REE production in Canada considering both human and ecological health. We note that ingestion, inhalation and dermal exposure for workers and surrounding residents (including potentially indigenous communities), and sub-arctic/arctic climate conditions could increase the risks to human and ecological health in future REE production development in Canada. Finally, future research directions are proposed that could be applied to both Canadian and other geographical contexts. The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author. Review Arctic University of Toronto: Research Repository T-Space Arctic Canada |
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University of Toronto: Research Repository T-Space |
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The development of rare earth element (REE) production in Canada could generate significant economic benefits, but also poses serious potential risks to the environment. Rare earth elements have been widely used in modern life and industries, and even are indispensable in some crucial advanced technologies (e.g. permanent magnets). Increasing demand and the context of current US-China trade tensions provide a commercial economic development opportunity for Canada, which has rich resources of REEs, to develop its own sector. However, environmental and health issues caused by REE production are challenges Canada has to face, given that significant environmental impacts have been reported elsewhere (e.g. China). Little literature is available on the potential environmental risks associated with the development of REE production in Canada. It is important to know what environmental issues, particularly those generated by REEs themselves, may happen in Canada in the future. Therefore, three major aspects are evaluated and summarized from multidisciplinary perspectives in this paper: 1) a general conceptual model of the transport of REEs as a group in the environment is established; 2) toxicity levels, biochemical mechanisms, and physiological effects of REEs on different organisms are reviewed, and case-studies from existing REE mining areas are briefly highlighted; and 3) considering specific environmental condition and risk factors, environmental risks Canada may face in future REE developments are identified and discussed. This review concludes with a macro-identification of potential environmental risks associated with the development of REE production in Canada considering both human and ecological health. We note that ingestion, inhalation and dermal exposure for workers and surrounding residents (including potentially indigenous communities), and sub-arctic/arctic climate conditions could increase the risks to human and ecological health in future REE production development in Canada. Finally, future research directions are proposed that could be applied to both Canadian and other geographical contexts. The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author. |
format |
Review |
author |
YIN, XIANGBO Martineau, Christine Demers, Isabelle Basiliko, Nathan Fenton, Nicole J. |
spellingShingle |
YIN, XIANGBO Martineau, Christine Demers, Isabelle Basiliko, Nathan Fenton, Nicole J. The potential environmental risks associated with the development of rare earth element production in Canada |
author_facet |
YIN, XIANGBO Martineau, Christine Demers, Isabelle Basiliko, Nathan Fenton, Nicole J. |
author_sort |
YIN, XIANGBO |
title |
The potential environmental risks associated with the development of rare earth element production in Canada |
title_short |
The potential environmental risks associated with the development of rare earth element production in Canada |
title_full |
The potential environmental risks associated with the development of rare earth element production in Canada |
title_fullStr |
The potential environmental risks associated with the development of rare earth element production in Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
The potential environmental risks associated with the development of rare earth element production in Canada |
title_sort |
potential environmental risks associated with the development of rare earth element production in canada |
publisher |
University of Toronto |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1807/106975 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/er-2020-0115 |
geographic |
Arctic Canada |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_relation |
1208-6053 http://hdl.handle.net/1807/106975 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/er-2020-0115 |
_version_ |
1766336656125722624 |