Evaluating environmental impacts of thorium extraction: A comparative study of solvent and electrosorption technologies using life cycle assessment (LCA)
Abstract
Thorium extraction techniques, such as solvent extraction from monazite and electrosorption techniques from water leach purification (WLP) of radioactive waste residues, are important for thorium recovery, particularly in Malaysia. Despite their importance, previous studies have largely overlooked critical issues like radioactive hazards, human health risks, and environmental impacts associated with advanced thorium extraction methods. This study addresses these gaps by quantifying the environmental impact associated with solvent extraction and electrosorption techniques using a life cycle assessment (LCA) framework to compare environmental indicators for thorium recovery from monazite ore and WLP residues. The LCA was conducted from cradle to gate, incorporating inventory data from the Ecoinvent database 3 and SimaPro software version 9, with inputs of raw material extraction, transportation, energy consumption, and chemical uses. Emissions into air, water, and soil were quantified across all processing phases. The LCA midpoint findings reveal that thorium disulfate in monazite processing is the key contributor to global warming , producing 45 kg CO 2 -eq, whereas transportation and electricity consumption also considerably affect emissions, contributing 25.07 kg CO 2 -eq and 26.17 kg CO 2 -eq, respectively. Comparative analysis of midpoint indicators showed that solvent extraction had a more significant environmental impact than electrosorption in the context of human carcinogenic toxicity, freshwater ecotoxicity, and marine ecotoxicity. The damaged assessment highlighted endpoint indicators that monazite processing had a higher impact than WLP on human health (0.0364–0.0016 DALY), ecosystems (0.0016–0.0005 species·yr), and resources (0.0012–0.0005 USD, 2013), primarily due to the use of chemicals and emissions. Our study shows that electrosorption from WLP demonstrates superior environmental sustainability compared with solvent extraction from monazite, positioning it a more viable and efficient approach for radioactive waste treatment.
Related
- Artificial intelligence-enabled monitoring of pesticide contamination in agricultural water systems: a comprehensive review of intelligent sensing technologies for water quality surveillance and environmental risk assessment
- Environmental footprint of High-Throughput Screening technologies for enzyme discovery and engineering: a Life Cycle Assessment comparison
- Valorization of Beach-Cast Biomass from the Invasive Seaweed Rugulopteryx okamurae on the Moroccan Coast: A Comparative Assessment of Extraction Conditions for Sodium Alginate Recovery
- Evaluating the EPICC-Model for regional air quality simulation: a comparative study with CAMx and CMAQ
- Reducing water usage to cool cows by applying “smart” technologies
BibTeX
@article{akhtar2026evaluating,
title = {{Evaluating environmental impacts of thorium extraction: A comparative study of solvent and electrosorption technologies using life cycle assessment (LCA)}},
author = {Naseem Akhtar and Aznan Fazli Ismail and Marlia Mohd Hanafiah and Syazwani Mohd Fadzil and Sulgiye Park},
journal = {Cleaner Engineering and Technology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.clet.2025.100960},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05790773v1},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Evaluating environmental impacts of thorium extraction: A comparative study of solvent and electrosorption technologies using life cycle assessment (LCA)
AU - Naseem Akhtar
AU - Aznan Fazli Ismail
AU - Marlia Mohd Hanafiah
AU - Syazwani Mohd Fadzil
AU - Sulgiye Park
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/10
JO - Cleaner Engineering and Technology
DO - 10.1016/j.clet.2025.100960
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05790773v1
AB - Thorium extraction techniques, such as solvent extraction from monazite and electrosorption techniques from water leach purification (WLP) of radioactive waste residues, are important for thorium recovery, particularly in Malaysia. Despite their importance, previous studies have largely overlooked critical issues like radioactive hazards, human health risks, and environmental impacts associated with advanced thorium extraction methods. This study addresses these gaps by quantifying the environmental impact associated with solvent extraction and electrosorption techniques using a life cycle assessment (LCA) framework to compare environmental indicators for thorium recovery from monazite ore and WLP residues. The LCA was conducted from cradle to gate, incorporating inventory data from the Ecoinvent database 3 and SimaPro software version 9, with inputs of raw material extraction, transportation, energy consumption, and chemical uses. Emissions into air, water, and soil were quantified across all processing phases. The LCA midpoint findings reveal that thorium disulfate in monazite processing is the key contributor to global warming , producing 45 kg CO 2 -eq, whereas transportation and electricity consumption also considerably affect emissions, contributing 25.07 kg CO 2 -eq and 26.17 kg CO 2 -eq, respectively. Comparative analysis of midpoint indicators showed that solvent extraction had a more significant environmental impact than electrosorption in the context of human carcinogenic toxicity, freshwater ecotoxicity, and marine ecotoxicity. The damaged assessment highlighted endpoint indicators that monazite processing had a higher impact than WLP on human health (0.0364–0.0016 DALY), ecosystems (0.0016–0.0005 species·yr), and resources (0.0012–0.0005 USD, 2013), primarily due to the use of chemicals and emissions. Our study shows that electrosorption from WLP demonstrates superior environmental sustainability compared with solvent extraction from monazite, positioning it a more viable and efficient approach for radioactive waste treatment.
SN - 2666-7908
ER -