Biotransformation and potential adverse effects of rare earth oxide nanoparticles

Abstract

Rare earth elements, also known as lanthanides, consist of 17 rare earth elements including cerium (Ce), dysprosium (Dy), erbium (Er), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), holmium (Ho), lanthanum (La), lutetium (Lu), neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), promethium (Pm), samarium (Sm), scandium (Sc), terbium (Tb), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), and yttrium (Y). They are useful at the nanoscale in a variety of industrial applications due to their magnetic, optical, and electronic properties. Furthermore, rare earth elements can be doped onto a host lattice to combine and harness their luminescence properties to enhance efficiency, which is called upconversion used in bioimaging. This chapter explores the biotransformation, translocation, and potential adverse effects of rare earth nanomaterials in plants and animals. Biotransformation occurs via a biochemical modification by living organisms or the ambient environmental media that can modify the toxicity and influence the fate of the material in the organism.