Abstract
BackgroundLithium is widely used in the electronic consumer market and electric vehicles and has a great contribution to the world economy, resulting in large quantities of lithium waste in the environment. The Yangtze River Basin is one of the most developed areas in China. However, the environmental influence of lithium in the Yangtze River Basin and its roles in cardiomyocytes have not yet been clarified.ResultsHere, we found that the concentration of lithium in the water environment is very high in Shanghai, as well as in tap water, which might be caused by the pollution of lithium batteries. Lithium inhibits cell viability and proliferation of human cardiomyocytes. Moreover, lithium promotes cell apoptosis significantly. And we found that lithium controls cardiomyocytes’ functions through regulating glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta signaling.ConclusionsThis study reveals that the water environment of Shanghai might be polluted by the lithium batteries; and the enrichment of lithium might cause damage to human cardiomyocytes. It is imperative to detect lithium concentration in the water environments (such as tap water and irrigation water) and effectively recycle lithium batteries in the future.
Highlights
Lithium is widely used in the electronic consumer market and electric vehicles and has a great con‐ tribution to the world economy, resulting in large quantities of lithium waste in the environment
The enrichment of lithium in Shanghai water environment To investigate the potential pollution of lithium in China, we evaluated the electric vehicle market in 2018
Lithium inhibits the cell viability of human cardiomyocytes To investigate the effects of lithium on cardiomyocytes, we evaluated the cell viability of AC16 cells under LiCl exposure at different concentrations (0 mmol/L, 0.2 mmol/L, 1 mmol/L, 5 mmol/L or 25 mmol/L)
Summary
Lithium is widely used in the electronic consumer market and electric vehicles and has a great con‐ tribution to the world economy, resulting in large quantities of lithium waste in the environment. The environmental influence of lithium in the Yangtze River Basin and its roles in cardiomyocytes have not yet been clarified. Lithium is the first element in the alkali metal group and the lightest metal. It is very active; it exists mainly in the form of compounds (such as apatite or aluminum silicide) in the environment [1,2,3,4]. The large-scale application of lithium batteries makes a great contribution to the world economy [11]. It might cause lots of lithium pollution. The rapid increase in consumption and the serious shortage of recycling might
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