Increasing divergence between human and biological elementomes

Abstract

The human elementome, the number and amounts of elements used biologically and nonbiologically by humans, has increasingly diverged from the biological elementome that characterizes the elements used by the nonhuman living organisms. This increasing divergence due to human cultural evolution has huge ecological, evolutionary, environmental, and geopolitical consequences.

Keywords: biological elementome; human elementome; lanthanides; metalloids; microorganisms; new technologies; rare earth elements; sustainability; trace elements.