The role of chemical interactions between thorium, cerium, and lanthanum in lymphocyte toxicity.

Thorium, cerium, and lanthanum are metals present in several types of minerals, the most common of which is monazite. Cerium and lanthanum are elements in the lanthanides series. Thorium, an actinide metal, is a hazardous element due to its radioactive characteristics.

Effects of lanthanum on human lymphocytes viability and DNA strand break.

Lanthanum (La) is a rare-earth metal with applications in agriculture, industry, and medicine. Since lanthanides show a broad spectrum of applications there is an increased risk of contamination for humans. We examined the effects of lanthanum in Jurkat cells and human peripheral lymphocytes (HPL), and we found that it was cytotoxic and genotoxic on both cell lines.