Using high-energy-resolution X-ray absorption spectroscopy, electron microscopy and computer modeling, this geochemistry study found that cerium in deep-sea mud sits in cerium-phosphate clusters in an amorphous layer around fish-bone apatite nanocrystals, rather than inside the crystal lattice. It is a mineral speciation study with no food-chain component.
Key numbers
- Two sediment samples from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone contained 2203 plus or minus 545 mg/kg and 2081 plus or minus 414 mg/kg cerium (p. 2).
Methods (brief)
Synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and density functional calculations on deep-sea sediment and reference minerals.
Evidence fitness
Off-topic for dietary exposure: it informs where cerium resides in marine sediments of interest for rare earth resources and does not support food, exposure or toxicity statements.
Limitations
Two sediment samples; geochemical focus only.
Related evidence
Update history
No substantive edit history is available in this build. The full commit record is available in git.