Descripción del proyecto
Estudio de la toxicidad del litio y el cobalto en sistemas acuáticos
El desarrollo y la producción de baterías son fundamentales para la transición a una economía neutra en carbono, lo que aumenta la demanda de litio y cobalto. Los procesos mineros liberan estas sustancias químicas en el medio acuático. Los sedimentos de los sistemas acuáticos desempeñan la doble función de ser sumideros o fuentes dinámicas de estos elementos, en función de las condiciones ambientales variables. El objetivo del proyecto CoLiBRI, financiado por las Acciones Marie Skłodowska-Curie, es investigar la toxicidad del litio y el cobalto en distintas condiciones ambientales. CoLiBRI se centra en la incidencia de la temperatura y el pH sobre la distribución y las características del litio y el cobalto, los efectos tóxicos sobre el pez cebra y los cambios en la comunidad microbiana de los sedimentos relacionados con el litio y el cobalto.
Objetivo
In the EU, transport is responsible for a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. For the transition to a climate neutral economy, battery development and production strategies are thus important. By 2030, the EU expects an increased requirement of 18 times more lithium and 5 times more cobalt. These elements are released into the aquatic environment by mining processes and wastewater discharge. In aquatic systems, sediments are important and dynamic sinks or sources for such elements, depending on varying environmental conditions. The chemical state, bioavailability, and toxicity of these elements in aquatic systems is highly influenced by environmental parameters such as pH and temperature, which in turn are influenced by climate change. The goal is to investigate the toxicity of lithium and cobalt in aquatic systems under different environmental conditions. This will be addressed in 3 research objectives: 1) Investigation of the impact of temperature and pH on the distribution and chemical characteristics of lithium and cobalt within aquatic systems 2) Analysis of toxic effects of lithium and cobalt to zebrafish 3) Evaluation of lithium and cobalt related microbial community changes within the sediment. To address these objectives, we will perform a long-term exposure with zebrafish to selected sediments spiked with lithium and cobalt in an aquarium system capable of monitoring and regulating different water parameters. The toxicity will be determined with the zebrafish embryo toxicity test. Gene-expression analysis will reveal sub-lethal toxic effects of the selected elements. Bioaccumulation and content of lithium and cobalt in water and sediment will be quantified by ICP-MS. Changes in the sediment microbial community will be investigated by metagenome fingerprinting. With this interdisciplinary holistic approach we aim to improve environmental risk assessment of sediments contaminated with lithium and cobalt, particularly in regard to climate change.
Ámbito científico
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwater treatment processeswastewater treatment processes
- natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistryalkali metals
- natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistrytransition metals
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineembryology
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Régimen de financiación
HORIZON-AG-UN - HORIZON Unit GrantCoordinador
70182 Orebro
Suecia