“The consequence of overusing the elements that shouldn’t have been touched by man”

• All of the elements know to man have their own

properties and uses

• Some are used in our daily lives, some are used for

industry while others are used for the military programs

• Common people usually ignore and don’t notice how the

things they used could affect their lives. Some don’t even

know that the things they are eating are toxic.

• Our knowledge of the elements has opened us to a world

of technology and progress but in all those discoveries,

some consequences have arose.

• All of the elements has their useful and harmful uses to

us humans and to the environment given the chance

• The range of damage that an element can bring will

depend on its toxicity, reactivity, and many more chemical

elements

• Element can bring forth damage to the environment by

natural causes but nature as they say will heal istelf no

matter what damage was done

• Apparently, it goes different when the damage was

caused by humans and how we misuse and improperly

dispose of them

• Most of the higly dangerous metals come from the Heavy Metals or Transition metals

• Here are some example of elements that can destroy and endanger our health and environment through their properties of being corrosive, toxic or very reactive. But the pollution they cause is aided by our carelessness:

• Lead

• Mercury

• Plutonium

• Cadmium

• Chromium

• Lead is a bright and silvery metal with a very slight shade

of blue in a dry atmosphere

• It is an element with high density, softness, ductility, poor

electrical conductivity and high resistance to corrosion

• It is used in many products all throughout the industry

• Uses

• Lead is commonly used in making paint, oxide in glass,

ceramics, gasoline ingredient, car batteries and casting

metals

• It is the introduction of lead to the atmosphere where it

affects the environment

• It is caused mostly by cars from the past, lead smelters,

metal processing plants and incinerators

• The cause of its spread was that no one knew years ago

that lead was dangerous and it was used in mass

productions for its cheap manufactory cost

• Effect is causes on Human and Animal health:

• Lead poisoning is acquired from polluted air, lead contaminated

water or soil and products contaminated with lead

• Upon ingestions or contact, Lead is known to damage the inner

organs of the body, affecting the nervous system

• In some casesm the effects of lead poisoning appear after a long

span of time which results in osteoporosis and reproductive

disorders like mutation or birth defects on offspring

• With the right amount of energy, Lead can kill a person after it is

absorbed into the body

• Known sometimes as quicksilver, Mercury is the only

known metal to be in liquid state at ordinary temperature

and pressure

• It is a poor conductor of heat but fair conductor of

electricity

• It appears as a silvery-white metal in liquid form

• (Rock with mercury deposits)

• Uses

• used in barometers and manometers for its high density

• It is also used widely in thermometer bulbs but less in light bulbd

• It is also used ease in amalgamating with gold is used in the

recovery of gold from its ores

• Industry uses mercury metal as a liquid electrode in the

manufacture of chlorine and sodium hydroxide by electrolysis of

brine

• It enters the environment as a result of normal

breakdown of minerals in rocks and soil through

exposure to wind and water and ends up in the soil or

water surface

• Once mercury has reached surface waters or soils

microorganisms can have nerve damage

• Upon exposure, Mercury will affects the immune system,

alters genetic and enzyme systems, and damages the

nervous system, including coordination and the senses of

touch, taste, and sight***Note: A spill of just three tablespoons of mercury will require a hazardous

waste response team***

• Mercury can be ingested through air exposure, drinking contaminated water or contaminated food, mostly fish

• Upon ingestion, a normal person will experience this symptoms- Disruption of the nervous system- Damage to brain functions - DNA damage and chromosomal damage- Allergic reactions, resulting in skin rashes, tiredness and headaches- Negative reproductive effects, such as sperm damage, birth defects and miscarriages- nerve, brain and kidney damage-lung irritation

• -eye irritation

• -skin rashes

• -vomiting and diarrhea.

• It is a transuranic radioactive element

• It is also known to be the heaviest primordial element

• This element is a mostly a byproduct of nuclear fissions

• It is commonly used in nuclear facilities

• Also used in making radiological weapons

Consequences and danger:

• Plutonium may enter the environment from releases of

nuclear reactors, weapons production plants, and

research facilities

• It is described as the most toxic substance to man for the

“alpha radiation” it emits can irradiate internal organs

when plutonium is inhaled or ingested

• Heath effects:

• Once breathed in, it wmay remain inside the lungs or move to the

other organs or bones

• Plutonium will stay inside the body for a long time and will continue

to expose body tissues to radiation

• Extremely small particles of plutonium on the order of micrograms

can cause lung cancer if inhaled into the lungs

• Larger amounts of Plutonium may cause acute radiation poisoning

• It can also cause reproductive failure

• Cadmium is a lustrous, silver-white, ductile, very malleable metal. Its surface has a bluish tinge and the metal is soft enough to be cut with a knife, but it tarnishes in air.

• It is soluble in acids but not in alkalis. It is similar in many aspects to zinc

• Cadmium also consists in the industries as an

inevitable by-product of zinc, lead and

copper extraction

• It is exposed and distributed mostly on the

ground for it is used mostly in pesticides and manure

• Health and Environmental Effects:

• Upon being breathed in, Cadmium can severely damage the lungs

and can lead to death

• It can also travel throughout the body causing damge especially to

thje kidneys resulting into Cadmium Poisoning

• Other effects are diarrhea, brain and nerve damage, and

reproductive failure

• In the environment, Cadmium can cause damage when animals

ingest it ranging from earthworms absorbing it in the soil and

microorganism absorbing it in the water

• It is a lustrous, brittle, hard metal

• Chromium is unstable in oxygen, it immediately produces

a thin oxide layer that is impermeable to oxygen and

protects the metal below.