(234d) Human and Eco-Toxicological Impacts of the Photovoltaic Lead and Tin Perovskites

Human and
eco-toxicological impacts of the photovoltaic lead and tin perovskites

I. R. Benmessaoud^1,6, R.
P. J. Bevers², M. Cornaglia³, L. Mouchiroud⁴,
S. C. Kilchenmann⁵, A-L. Mahul-Mellier⁶, M. Gijs³,
J. Auwerx⁴, B. Deplancke², H. A. Lashuel⁶ and
L. Forrò¹

¹Laboratory of Physics of
Complex Matter, Ecole Polytechnique
Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015 Lausanne,
Switzerland.

²Laboratory of Systems
Biology and Genetics, EPFL, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.

³Laboratory of Microsystems,
EPFL, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.

⁴Laboratory of Integrative
Systems Physiology, EPFL, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.

⁵Laboratory of Life
Sciences Electronics, EPFL, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.

⁶Laboratory of
Molecular and Chemical Biology of Neurodegeneration,
EPFL, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.

Abstract:

In the past 5 years, halide perovskites
offer compelling optoelectronic applications^1,2
and represent a promising class of photovoltaic solar cell³
compounds due to the high photon to electron conversion efficiency, its low
price, and the simplicity of device architectures. The CH₃NH₃PbI₃,
or MAPbI₃, was the most commonly used and developed material.
Nevertheless, its lead content raised much more concerns⁴ regarding
health hazards during handling and processing, as well as its potential toxic
release into the environment. Therefore, active research in materials science,
chemistry and physics is currently developing novel materials, including CH₃NH₃SnI₃,
or MASnI₃, to unravel the hazards of lead. However, tin is a heavy metal
known to be toxic in specific forms^5-7. Here, we report the negative
effects that both MAPbI₃ and MASnI₃ can cause in vitro and in vivo. We found a stronger negative influence of the tin compound
not only on human cells physiology, where lung cells become giant and
polynucleated, but also on life span, development and fertility of small model
organisms, i.e. Drosophila melanogaster
and Caenorhabditis elegans. These results justify the potential hazards of large-scale
production of MAPbI₃ and/or MASnI₃, and invite the
photovoltaic community to take safety measures and to amplify research on
encapsulation systems to prevent the release of the materials into the
environment.

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