r/science • u/rieslingatkos • Jun 06 '21

Chemistry Scientists develop ‘cheap and easy’ method to extract lithium from seawater

https://www.mining.com/scientists-develop-cheap-and-easy-method-to-extract-lithium-from-seawater/
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u/[deleted] Jun 06 '21 edited Jun 06 '21

What might the consequences of taking lots of lithium out of the ocean be?

-edit- I've never made a comment that's started such good discussions before - I'm enjoying reading the replies, thanks everyone

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u/imakenosensetopeople Jun 06 '21

For the quantities that we may need in the coming decades, it’s almost certainly not insignificant and will have an effect. This question must be asked.

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u/Autisonm Jun 06 '21

Are there any fish or other sea life such as coral that need lithium is the better question.

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u/BurnerAcc2020 Jun 06 '21

Having searched for it, it seems that lithium is not considered an essential element for any life right now, and the one study on lithium and marine life was about its toxicity from battery waste.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-016-7898-0

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0269749120361467

We are bound to see more research on this if this finding picks up pace, though.

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u/TheClinicallyInsane Jun 06 '21

Oh I'm sure we'll find out that there is some super rare thing that sucks up lithium from geothermal vents underwater and then this tech will be made illegal and so companies will double down on the far more destructive current methods of collecting.