Ecotoxicological evaluation of lanthanum-based lake restoration techniques

Water quality deterioration and biodiversity decline in surface waters caused by nutrient pollution is one of the most pervasive pressures on aquatic ecosystems worldwide. To control negative effects from nutrient pollution, chemical inactivation of phosphate by use of lanthanum-based products has increased sharply over the last decade. The successful eutrophication control using a specific lanthanum-modified bentonite (LMB, Phoslock) has prompted the development of other lanthanum-based compounds. My research will focus on the consequences of addition of lanthanum-based compounds to the aquatic ecosystem and will stretch further to users of waters that have been treated with lanthanum-based compounds. My research will shed light on the safety and ecotoxicity of these compounds. To this end, I will collect and review all information already published in the scientific literature as well as grey literature on LMB and related compounds; I will perform laboratory studies with novel compounds and compare them with the well-studied LMB, I will use chemical equilibrium modelling; and I will use data obtained from upscaled experiments and whole lake treatments. This information will be useful for lake managers to chose measures from the toolbox based on efficacy, cost, ease, and safety.