Development of a Tellurium Speciation Study Using IC-ICP-MS on Soil Samples Taken from an Area Associated with the Storage, Processing, and Recovery of Electrowaste

The optimization and validation of a methodology for determining and extracting inorganic ionic Te(VI) and Te(IV) forms in easily-leached fractions of soil by Ion Chromatography-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (IC-ICP-MS) were studied. In this paper, the total concentration of Te, pH, and red-ox potential were determined. Ions were successfully separated in 4 min on a Hamilton PRPX100 column with 0.002 mg/kg and 0.004 mg/kg limits of detection for Te(VI) and Te(IV), respectively. Soil samples were collected from areas subjected to the influence of an electrowaste processing and sorting plant. Sequential chemical extraction of soils showed that tellurium was bound mainly with sulphides, organic matter, and silicates. Optimization of soil extraction allowed 20% average extraction efficiency to be obtained, using 100 mM citric acid as the extractant. In the tested soil samples, both tellurium species were present. In most cases, the soils contained a reduced Te form, or the concentrations of both species were similar.

Global Deletome Profile of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Exposed to the Technology-Critical Element Yttrium

The emergence of the technology-critical-element yttrium as a contaminant in the environment raises concern regarding its toxicological impact on living organisms. The molecular mechanisms underlying yttrium toxicity must be delineated. We considered the genomic phenotyping of a mutant collection of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to be of particular interest to decipher key cellular pathways involved either in yttrium toxicity or detoxification mechanisms. Among the 4733 mutants exposed to yttrium, 333 exhibited modified growth, of which 56 were sensitive and 277 were resistant. Several functions involved in yttrium toxicity mitigation emerged, primarily vacuolar acidification and retrograde transport. Conversely, functional categories overrepresented in the yttrium toxicity response included cytoskeleton organization and endocytosis, protein transport and vesicle trafficking, lipid metabolism, as well as signaling pathways. Comparison with similar studies carried out using other metals and stressors showed a response pattern similar to nickel stress. One third of the identified mutants highlighted peculiar cellular effects triggered by yttrium, specifically those affecting the pheromone-dependent signaling pathway or sphingolipid metabolic processes. Taken together, these data emphasize the role of the plasma membrane as a hotspot for yttrium toxicity. The up-to-now lack of data concerning yttrium toxicity at the cellular and molecular levels makes this pioneer study using the model S. cerevisiae an excellent first basis for the assessment of yttrium toxicity toward eukaryotes.