Mixed with europium fluoride, it is also applied in the crystal membrane of fluoride ion-selective electrodes. Like horseradish peroxidase, lanthanum is used as an electron-dense tracer in molecular biology. Lanthanum-modified bentonite (or phoslock) is used to remove phosphates from water in lake treatments. Lanthanum telluride (La3Te4) is considered to be applied in the field of radioisotope power system (nuclear power plant) due to its significant conversion capabilities. The transmuted elements and isotopes in the segment will not react with the material itself, thus presenting no harm to the safety of the power plant. Though iodine, which can be generated during transmutation, is suspected to react with La3Te4 segment, the quantity of iodine is small enough to possess threat to the power system. Biological role
Lanthanum has no known biological role in humans. The element is very poorly absorbed after oral administration and when injected its elimination is very slow. Lanthanum carbonate (Fosrenol) was approved as a phosphate binder to absorb excess phosphate in cases of end stage renal disease.While lanthanum has pharmacological effects on several receptors and ion channels, its specificity for the GABA receptor is unique among trivalent cations. Lanthanum acts at the same modulatory site on the GABA receptor as zinc, a known negative allosteric modulator.
Lanthanum is a chemical element with the symbol La and atomic number 57. It is a soft, ductile, silvery-white metal that tarnishes slowly when exposed to air. It is the eponym of the lanthanide series, a group of 15 similar elements between lanthanum and lutetium in the periodic table, of which lanthanum is the first and the prototype. Lanthanum is traditionally counted among the rare earth elements. Like most other rare earth elements, the usual oxidation state is +3. Lanthanum has no biological role in humans but is essential to some bacteria. It is not particularly toxic to humans but does show some antimicrobial activity. Lanthanum usually occurs together with cerium and the other rare earth elements. Lanthanum was first found by the Swedish chemist Carl Gustaf Mosander in 1839 as an impurity in cerium nitrate – hence the name lanthanum, from the Ancient Greek λανθάνειν (lanthanein), meaning to lie hidden. Although it is classified as a rare earth element, lanthanum is the 28th most abundant element in the Earths crust, almost three times as abundant as lead. In minerals such as monazite and bastnäsite, lanthanum composes about a quarter of the lanthanide content. It is extracted from those minerals by a process of such complexity that pure lanthanum metal was not isolated until 1923. Lanthanum compounds have numerous applications as catalysts, additives in glass, carbon arc lamps for studio lights and projectors, ignition elements in lighters and torches, electron cathodes, scintillators, gas tungsten arc welding electrodes, and other things.