University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, School of Life Sciences, Gründenstrasse 40, CH-4132 Muttenz, Switzerland; Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zurich, Universitätsstrasse 16, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland.
Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zurich, Universitätsstrasse 16, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland.
Sci Total Environ. 2016 Feb 1;543(Pt A):703-714. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.11.074. Epub 2015 Dec 7.
Despite the increasing use of photovoltaics their potential environmental risks are poorly understood. Here, we compared ecotoxicological effects of two thin-film photovoltaics: established copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) and organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells. Leachates were produced by exposing photovoltaics to UV light, physical damage, and exposure to environmentally relevant model waters, representing mesotrophic lake water, acidic rain, and seawater. CIGS cell leachates contained 583 μg L(-1) molybdenum at lake water, whereas at acidic rain and seawater conditions, iron, copper, zinc, molybdenum, cadmium, silver, and tin were present up to 7219 μg L(-1). From OPV, copper (14 μg L(-1)), zinc (87 μg L(-1)) and silver (78 μg L(-1)) leached. Zebrafish embryos were exposed until 120 h post-fertilization to these extracts. CIGS leachates produced under acidic rain, as well as CIGS and OPV leachates produced under seawater conditions resulted in a marked hatching delay and increase in heart edema. Depending on model water and solar cell, transcriptional alterations occurred in genes involved in oxidative stress (cat), hormonal activity (vtg1, ar), metallothionein (mt2), ER stress (bip, chop), and apoptosis (casp9). The effects were dependent on the concentrations of cationic metals in leachates. Addition of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid protected zebrafish embryos from morphological and molecular effects. Our study suggests that metals leaching from damaged CIGS cells, may pose a potential environmental risk.
尽管越来越多地使用光伏技术，但人们对其潜在的环境风险知之甚少。在这里，我们比较了两种薄膜光伏技术的生态毒理学效应：成熟的铜铟镓硒（CIGS）和有机光伏（OPV）电池。通过暴露光伏电池于紫外光、物理损伤和暴露于环境相关的模型水中，制备了浸出液，分别代表中营养型湖泊水、酸性雨水和海水。在湖泊水中，CIGS 电池的浸出液中含有 583μg/L 的钼，而在酸性雨水和海水中，铁、铜、锌、钼、镉、银和锡的含量高达 7219μg/L。从 OPV 中浸出了铜（14μg/L）、锌（87μg/L）和银（78μg/L）。斑马鱼胚胎在受精后 120 小时内暴露于这些提取物中。在酸性雨水条件下制备的 CIGS 浸出液，以及在海水条件下制备的 CIGS 和 OPV 浸出液，导致孵化延迟和心脏水肿明显增加。根据模型水和太阳能电池的不同，参与氧化应激（cat）、激素活性（vtg1、ar）、金属硫蛋白（mt2）、内质网应激（bip、chop）和细胞凋亡（casp9）的基因发生转录改变。这些影响取决于浸出液中阳离子金属的浓度。添加乙二胺四乙酸可保护斑马鱼胚胎免受形态和分子效应的影响。我们的研究表明，受损 CIGS 细胞中浸出的金属可能构成潜在的环境风险。
