Ecological evaluation of gadolinium toxicity compared with other heavy metals using an aquatic microcosm

• Published in: Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology Vol. 66; no. 2; pp. 231 - 238
• Main Authors: FUMA, S, TAKEDA, H, MIYAMOTO, K, YANAGISAWA, K, INOUE, Y, ISHII, N, SUGAI, K, ISHII, C, KAWABATA, Z
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Springer-Verlag 01.02.2001
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Ecosystem; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Escherichia coli; Euglena; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; gadolinium; Gadolinium - toxicity; General aspects; lanthanides; Metals, Heavy - toxicity; Population Dynamics; Tetrahymena; Predator prey relation; Euglenophyta; Lanthanide; Toxicity; Algae; Escherichia coli; Microcosm; Gadolinium; Aquatic environment; Artificial medium; Euglena gracilis; Bacteria; Enterobacteriaceae; Thallophyta
• DOI: 10.1007/s001280000229
• ISSN: 0007-4861

Gadolinium (Gd) is a member of a group of rare earth metals known as lanthanides. It has been used for superconductors, magnets, fluorescent materials, electric materials, glass additives and so on. It has been also used as a paramagnetic contrast-enhancing agent in nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). It is possible that ecosystems will be damaged by the increasing industrial and medical use of gadolinium. However, there are few trials for ecological evaluation of gadolinium toxicity, especially at the community-level. This paper therefore investigated effects of gadolinium on an aquatic microbial microcosm and its pure-culture systems. The aim was: (1) to certify whether some effects observed in the microcosm exposed to gadolinium were community-level responses; and (2) to evaluate ecotoxicity of gadolinium to aquatic microbial communities compared with other heavy metals.