Samantha (Manisara) Drew 8D

Neodymium: Its Advantages and Disadvantages

Rare earth metals are found in products that you use every day from thumb drives to cars. In this essay I will talk about the rare earth metal called Neodymium, its advantages and disadvantages. There are 23 types of rare earth metals, these rare earth metals need to be mined, they can be found in China, Australia, America, India, Russia, Malaysia and Brazil, though 95% of it is mined in China. (McLendon, What are rare earth metals?) Many ecofriendly products need rare earth metals in it, but the manufactures of rare earth metals are known to harm the environment. (McLendon, What are rare earth metals?) There are many advantages to Neodymium. Neodymium is mainly used for its magnetic properties (Kingsnorth). It is used in products like thumb drives, head phones and hybrid cars. Head phones and thumb drives can become smaller and more compact because of neodymium. (McLendon, What are rare earth metals?) Environmentally, Japan is looking into ways to reuse Neodymium and dysprosium this is because of Chinas export policies that limit the amount they can export and also because of the export ban. (McLendon, What are rare earth metals?) Neodymium is used in eco-friendly products like wind turbines and hybrid cars because of its high magnetic properties. Hybrid cars are good because they dont pollute the environment and wind turbines power houses, work places etc. using the wind. There are also disadvantages to Neodymium. In China, areas that were formally fields of corn and wheat is now a rare earth lake. (Douglas) When rare earths are mined the byproduct of it is radioactive waste. Farmers that live near by the lake have been complaining about dying crops and losing their teeth and hair, it has also caused severe skin and resperatoriy dieseases.This isnt good for familys living around or near the rare earth lakes because it could cause even more harmful in the future. (McLendon, What are rare earth metals?) (Douglas) Economicly the price of Neodymium has rasied from 19$ per pound and now to 129$ this is a 578% increase, because of this the prices of thumb drives, hybrid cars and head phones will raise. (McLendon, What are rare earth metals?) If neodymium is exposed to high/hot temperatures it will lose strongness of the magnets, in hot places like south east asia magnets in the hybrid cars or thumb drives could break or would need to be replaced which could cost a lot. In conclusion I think that there are more disadvantages to Neodymium then advantages, because of the environmental and economical reasons, e.g. the price of neodymium raising by 578%, the rare earth lake causing people to have severe skin and lung dieseases. (McLendon, What are rare earth metals?) (Douglas) Rare earth metals have a dangerous effect on the well-being of people and the environment; people need to take action into making sure that the local people arent harmed by the rare earth metals and so that the

Samantha (Manisara) Drew 8D

farmers can also continue farming and get a stable income. We also have to find solutions into ways that the radioactive waste can be dealt with in an eco-friendly way. I also think that we need to find an alternative to rare earth metals, because before it was discovered we survived fine without it.

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Bibliography
Adams, Mike. n.d. 1 March 2012 <http://www.naturalnews.com/z028028_rare_earth_elements_mining.html>. Douglas, Simon Parry and Ed. In China, the true cost of Britain's clean, green wind power experiment: Pollution on a disastrous scale. 26 January 2011. 12 March 2012 <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1350811/In-China-true-cost-Britainsclean-green-wind-power-experiment-Pollution-disastrous-scale.html>. Erbium-Er. n.d. 1 March 2012 <http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/er.htm>. Folder, Tim. Rare Earth Elements. June 2011. 1 March 2012 <http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/06/rare-earth-elements/folger-text/2\>. Jefferson, Thomas. The Element Europium. n.d. 1 March 2012 <http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele063.html>. Kingsnorth, Dudley J. Significance of REE. September 2008. 1 March 2012 <http://www.rareearthmetals.ca/article/significance-of-ree-170.asp>. McLendon, Russell. What are rare earth metals? 22 June 2011. 1 March 2012 <http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/translating-uncle-sam/stories/what-are-rare-earthmetals>. . What are rare earth metals? 22 June 2011. 29 Febuary 2012 <http://www.mnn.com/earthmatters/translating-uncle-sam/stories/what-are-rare-earth-metals>. Neodymium. 25th Febuary 2012. 2 March 2012 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neodymium>. Periodicvideos. Neodymium- Periodic Tables of Videos. 17 April 2009. 1 March 2012 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBbl-3_R3mk>. Reuters. Toyota finds ways to avoid using rare earth metals - Mother Nature Network. 23 Jan 2012. 24 Feb 2012 <http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/transportation/stories/toyota-finds-way-toavoid-using-rare-earth-metals>.

Samantha (Manisara) Drew 8D The Numerous Benefits of Neodymium Magnets. 2 May 2011. 2 March 2012 <http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/the-numerous-benefits-of-neodymiummagnets-4714303.html>. What is Erbium. n.d. 1 March 2012 <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-erbium.htm>.