Scandium [Sc, 21]

Scandium is applied for light Al–Sc alloys used mainly in the aerospace industries. It is also used for the production of various lamps, lasers, and fluorescent materials, and as a catalyst in organic chemistry. Scandium contents of soils of different countries are given as follows (in mg/kg): China, 5-28; Japan, 13-28; Poland, 0.5-7.9; Sweden, 3.5-16; the United States, 5-18; and Russia, 5 (mean value for loess deposits). Soils in remote regions of Spitsbergen, Norway, contain Sc within the range of 0.02–0.14 mg/kg. Scandium concentration in worldwide ocean and seawaters is within the range of 0.6–1.0 ng/LIn river waters, it is in much higher amounts, up to 1800 ng/L, especially in rivers of South America and Africa (Reimann and de Caritat 1998). Scandium can be a threat to the liver when it accumulates in the human body. Shtangeeva et al. (2004) observed that added Sc is likely to be concentrated in seedling and roots.