Environmental issues of Rare Earth Elements

Introduction
The rare earth elements also recognized as REEs are a total of
seventeen chemical elements, the lanthanides, Scandium and
yttrium. Although they are called rare earth element, they are
present in reasonably high sums in Earth’s crust. Due to their
geochemical properties, they are not often found in concentrated
rare earth minerals.
 Environmental issue

 Recycling techniques for REEs

Recycling practices for REEs have a number of environmental
consequences including high energy use, consumption of large
amounts of chemicals and the generation of waste chemicals and
water. Hydrometallurgical procedures to recycle REE magnets
require large amounts of strong mineral acids and non-recyclable
reagents such as H2SO4, NaOH and HF, and generate great
quantities of waste water

 Impacts on vegetation
Mining REEs contaminates the surrounding which in turns
contaminates soil and water. This impacted the vegetation in the
surrounding area by decreasing chlorophyll production in plants.
This inhibits the plant growth.
  Impacts on animals
Statistics has shown that animals that live near REEs polluted
areas are diagnosed with various organs and system
complications. On the other hand, REEs are being used in fish
farming. They are said to protect the fishes from different kinds of
illnesses.

 Impacts on humans
People living near REEs mining areas are reported to have high
levels of REES in their blood, urine and bones etc. These high
levels were related to the high levels of REEs in the vegetation
they cultivated. High levels of REEs in men and women are not
very hazardous however they can modify the neurological
progress in children and can lead to memory loss.

 Radiation
Most of the REEs have radioactive isotopes. For instance, the key
decay process of thorium is emission of alpha particles. The alpha
particles are not transportable far however, when inhaled, can
cause cellular damage.

 Safety
Safety etiquettes are obligation for every RE site. Safety at sites is
highly dependent upon compliances and enforcement and rare
earth processing sites can occur in close proximity to human
occupancy.

REFERENCES:
1. En.wikipedia.org. 2020.Rare-Earth Elements. [online]
Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare-
earth_element#Environmental_pollution >

2. Iopscience.iop.org. 2016.Shieldsquare Captcha. [online]

Available at
<https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-
899X/161/1/012069/pdf>

3. Researchgate.net.2014.Social and Environmental Impact of

the Rare Earth Industries.[online]Available
at:<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276042623_
Social_and_Environmental_Impact_of_the_Rare_Earth_Indu
stries>