SEES Fellows: An integrated study of the biogeochemical cycling and human health implications of In, Ga, Ge, and Te, elements critical to emerging energy technologies

虽然半导体技术正在迅速发展，但人们对未来半导体中使用的新金属的环境行为或毒理学知之甚少。行业需要尽早做出选择的能力，以避免可能威胁到新技术可持续性的意外。该项目将解决早期评估新型工业材料的需要，以防止未来对环境和人类健康产生不利影响。该项目将使人们更好地了解一系列重要但尚未得到充分研究的金属的工业和自然循环，以及它们在采矿过程中的释放。它还将有助于更深入地了解作为副产品开采的金属的采矿流量，这反过来可能支持确定新出现的金属污染物并确定其优先次序的框架。这项研究的重点是铟、镓、锗和碲的循环，这是一组对环境循环知之甚少的金属，已经提出了毒性，并且由于在关键能源技术中的新用途，工业用途有可能急剧增加。这些金属作为微量成分存在于锌矿和铅矿中，是作为这些原生金属的副产品开采的，其循环受到采矿和冶炼作业释放的强烈影响。采矿活动产生的铟、镓、锗和碲的发生、流动性和人类暴露途径将在焦油溪超级基金遗址进行评估，由于其铅锌开采的历史和当今矿山废物的来源，该遗址可以作为一个示范地点。将在环境样本中测量这些金属，以确定它们对生活在该地区的个人的循环和主要接触途径，并在这些人的血液样本中测量这些金属，以将接触与身体负担联系起来。除了技术方面，该项目还涉及教育和推广活动，包括让本科生参与研究，在一年一度的剑桥科学节上举办教育展览，以及与居住在塔尔溪和附近印第安人土地附近的个人举行社区会议，以交流结果，寻求对继续研究的投入，并鼓励积极参与可持续性科学。该项目由美国国家科学基金会科学、工程和教育可持续发展研究员（SEES研究员）计划支持，其目标是帮助实现必要的发现，为导致环境、能源和社会可持续发展的行动提供信息，同时创造必要的劳动力来应对这些挑战。在see研究员的支持下，该项目将使有前途的早期职业研究人员能够在与可持续性相关的独立研究生涯中建立自己的职业生涯。

While semiconductor technologies are rapidly advancing, little is known about the environmental behavior or toxicology of the new metals that will be used in future semiconductors. Industry needs the ability to make choices early on to avoid surprises that may threaten the sustainability of new technologies. This project will address the need for the early assessment of novel industrial materials in order to prevent future adverse environmental and human health impacts. The project will result in a better understanding of the industrial and natural cycling of a suite of important but understudied metals, and their releases from mining processes. It will also contribute to deeper understanding of the mining flux of metals that are mined as byproducts, which may in turn support a framework for identifying and prioritizing emerging metal contaminants. The research focuses on the cycling of indium, gallium, germanium, and tellurium, a suite of metals for which environmental cycling is poorly understood, toxicity has been suggested, and industrial use has the potential to increase dramatically due to new uses in critical energy technologies. These metals exist as trace constituents in zinc and lead ores, are mined as byproducts of these primary metals, and have cycles that are influenced strongly by releases from mining and smelting operations. The occurrence, mobility, and pathways of human exposure of indium, gallium, germanium, and tellurium resulting from mining activities will be assessed at the Tar Creek Superfund site, which can serve as a model site due to its history of lead and zinc mining and present-day sources of mine waste. The metals will be measured in environmental samples to establish their cycling and primary exposure pathways to individuals living in the area, and in blood samples from such individuals to link exposure to body burdens. In addition to technical aspects, this project involves education and outreach activities including engagement of undergraduate students in research, an educational exhibit at the annual Cambridge Science Festival, and community meetings with individuals living near Tar Creek and nearby Native American lands to communicate results, seek input on continuing studies, and encourage active participation in sustainability science.This project is supported under the NSF Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability Fellows (SEES Fellows) program, with the goal of helping to enable discoveries needed to inform actions that lead to environmental, energy and societal sustainability while creating the necessary workforce to address these challenges. With SEES Fellows support, this project will enable a promising early career researcher to establish themselves in an independent research career related to sustainability.