Editing Rare-earth element (section)

====On vegetation====
The mining of REEs has caused the [[soil contamination|contamination]] of soil and water around production areas, which has impacted vegetation in these areas by decreasing [[chlorophyll]] production, which affects photosynthesis and inhibits the growth of the plants.<ref name=Kyung/> However, the impact of REE contamination on vegetation is dependent on the plants present in the contaminated environment: not all plants retain and absorb REEs. Also, the ability of the vegetation to intake the REE is dependent on the type of REE present in the soil, hence there are a multitude of factors that influence this process.<ref name="sciencedirect.com">{{cite journal |last=Chua |first=H |date=18 June 1998 |title=Bio-accumulation of environmental residues of rare earth elements in aquatic flora ''Eichhornia crassipes'' (Mart.) Solms in Guangdong Province of China |journal=Science of the Total Environment |language=en |volume=214 |issue=1–3 |pages=79–85 |doi=10.1016/S0048-9697(98)00055-2 |issn=0048-9697 |bibcode=1998ScTEn.214...79C}}</ref> Agricultural plants are the main type of vegetation affected by REE contamination in the environment, the two plants with a higher chance of absorbing and storing REEs being apples and beets.<ref name=Volokh/> 

There is a possibility that REEs can leach out into aquatic environments and be absorbed by aquatic vegetation, which can then bio-accumulate and potentially enter the human food chain if livestock or humans choose to eat the vegetation. An example of this situation was the case of the [[Eichhornia crassipes|water hyacinth]] (''Eichhornia crassipes)'' in China, where the water was contaminated due to a REE-enriched fertilizer being used in a nearby agricultural area. The aquatic environment became contaminated with [[cerium]] and resulted in the water hyacinth becoming three times more concentrated in cerium than its surrounding water.<ref name="sciencedirect.com"/>