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Microbial communities, comprising bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotic microorganisms, inhabit diverse ecosystems and play crucial roles in environmental and biological processes. Their diversity is defined by three main parameters: species richness (the number of distinct species), species abundance (the relative quantity of each species), and species evenness (how uniformly individual species are distributed in various locations). These factors together shape the structure and ecological balance...
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A Multidisciplinary Approach That Considers Occurrence, Geochemistry, Bioavailability, and Toxicity to Prioritize

Sarah Jane O White1, Tyler J Kane2, Kate M Campbell2

  • 1U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 20192, United States.

Environmental Science & Technology
|December 12, 2024
PubMed
Summary

Critical minerals are vital for security and development, but their environmental impacts are poorly understood. This study proposes a method to prioritize critical elements for research based on their environmental risks and data availability.

Keywords:
Trace metalscritical elementsenvironmental behaviorenvironmental health effectssustainable resourcestechnology critical elements

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Area of Science:

  • Environmental Science
  • Geochemistry
  • Toxicology

Background:

  • Critical minerals are essential for global security and development, yet their supply chains are vulnerable.
  • Understanding the environmental behavior and health effects of critical elements is crucial for responsible sourcing.
  • Data gaps exist regarding the environmental fate and effects of numerous critical elements.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify significant data gaps in the environmental understanding of critical elements.
  • To develop a prioritization approach for studying the environmental fate and effects of critical elements.
  • To address the need for research on the 50 commodities on the 2022 US critical minerals list.

Main Methods:

  • Proposed a multidisciplinary approach for prioritizing critical elements for research.
  • Included metrics for occurrence, geochemistry, bioavailability, and toxicity.
  • Demonstrated the approach using indium and zinc as case studies.

Main Results:

  • Identified significant data gaps in the environmental behavior and health effects of critical elements.
  • Developed and demonstrated an integrated approach to prioritize critical elements for research.
  • Highlighted the need to focus on elements with high mobility, bioavailability, toxicity, or data scarcity.

Conclusions:

  • A systematic, multidisciplinary approach is necessary to prioritize research on critical elements.
  • This prioritization facilitates focused research on elements posing the greatest environmental or health risks.
  • Understanding critical element environmental impacts is key to sustainable resource development.