Introduction Lanthanum (La) is a member of the rare earth elements (REEs), which consist of a group of 15 trivalent metallic elements with similar properties. Lanthanum is mostly dangerous in the working environment, due to the fact that damps and gasses can be inhaled with air. This can cause lung embolism, especially during long-term exposure. Lanthanum can also cause cancer with humans, as it enlarges the chances of lung cancer when it is inhaled. Finally, it can be a threat to the liver when it accumulates in the human body. Lanthanum is dumped in the environment in many different places, mainly by petrol-producing industries. It can also enter the environment when household equipment is thrown away. Lanthanum will gradually accumulate in soils and water soils and this will eventually lead to increasing concentrations in humans, animals and soil particles. With water animals lanthanum causes damage to cell membranes, which has several negative influences on reproduction and on the functions of the nervous system. It strongly accumulates in mussels. Lanthanum oxide and other rare earth oxides are used in making of the optical glasses, in the preparation of glass fibers for optical purposes, in gasoline-cracking catalysts, polishing compounds, carbon arcs, and in the iron and steel industries to remove sulfur, carbon, and other electronegative elements from iron and steel (Ganjali et al. 2006). Lanthanum ions accelerate hydrolysis of phosphate ester binding by 13 orders of magnitude. This suggests that phosphate di ester in DNA may also suffer such destruction. Thus, lanthanum should be situated among the class of highly toxic metal ions that are potentially effective against micro and higher organisms. Lanthanum chloride manifests as antitumor. Genotoxicity of lanthanum (III) in human peripheral blood lymphocytes has also been reported. Lanthanum chloride caused changes in lipid peroxidation, the redox system, and ATPase activities in plasma membranes of rice seeding roots (Haiduc and Silvestru 1990; Yongxing, Xiaorong, and Zichun 2000). La detection has become necessary lately, because of the increasing utilization of lanthanum compounds in industry. Several analytical methods have been reported for low-level monitoring of La(III) ions in various sample matrices. These methods include X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (Wu et al. 2010), High Sensitive Sensor Based on Carbon Nanotube Electrode (Ghoreishi et al. 2013), Ultrasound-Assisted Emulsification-Microextraction (USAEME) Followed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometr (ICP-OES), (Sereshti, Far, and Samadi 2012) inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (Agrawal and Shrivastav 1997; Liang, Liu, and Guo 2005), Combining high temperature electrochemistry and time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (Rohnke et al.
In chapter 8 titled "Radium (Ra)" of The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum, the most interesting story developed within this chapter was the death of dial workers at Orange, New Jersey after been exposed to radium every day. It was interesting due to the fact that radium was used everywhere in the community and was never thought it could harm anyone. Radium was a super element that was used everywhere, but its continuous use unmasked its fatal habits. As it was stated in the text, "Radiant health, the ads proclaimed-beautiful skin, endless vigor, and eternal health—ingesting radium seemed the next best thing to drinking sunlight." (Blum 179). People were accepting radium as a natural gold element but they haven't realized constant contact
Rasmussen, T.; Jensen, J. F.; Ostergaard, N.; Tanner, D.; Ziegler, T.; Norrby, P. Chem. Eur. J., 2002, 8, 177.
Technetium, as with other radioactive material there is the chance of cancer, and other health conditions from exposure to radioactivity.
Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. (2013). SETAC/Rachel Carson Award - Society of environmental toxicology and chemistry. Retrieved from Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry: http://www.setac.org/?SETACAwardSRachel
Arsenic is the 20th most common element in the earth’s crust and can be found naturally in our environment. There is around 0.006 to 0.03 ppm or arsenic distributed in seawater, and 20 ppm of arsenic in soil (before pesticides). Every human will ingest about 0.5 to 1 mg of arsenic in a day from food and water, because arsenic is present in higher quantities in se...
Harmfull Effects of Ocean dumping include animals in danger with trash in their habitat, as well as contamination of public waters.
Radon is highly unreactive with oxygen, acids and bases. The element is soluble in water. Radon is not produced commercially. Radon is a natural occurring radioactive gas, and comes from the natural breakdown of Uranium. It is found in igneous rock and soil. Radon’s decay products are toxic and radioactive. It can be found in almost all homes and is the number one cause of lung-cancer in nonsmokers in the USA. Radon was used to treat cancer by radiotherapy, but now safer treatments are available. Also, radon is used in spas and an earthquake predictor and geothermal prospector. Radon’s crustal abundance is 4 x 10-13 mg/kg and its oceanic abundance is 6 x 10-16 mg/l. If Radon is inhaled it can cause more than lung cancer, such as silicosis, pulmonary fibrosis and can generate genotoxic effects. Radon-222 and Radon-220 are the only to abundantly found in the everyday life of humans. Radon-222 occurs most in the environment. Radon is the only gas that has radioactive isotopes and poses a threat to your health to the environment in it’s normal state. According to “Radon” Radon was the fifth radioactive element to be discovered. In 1530, miner’s begin getting a disease known as “mala metallorum” which was later found that Radon was the
Tritium is a hazardous substance that should only be used by professionals or with professional supervision. However, Tritium undergoes beta decay, which is not as powerful and disables the beta particles from penetrating the skin. It is still not correct to perform experiments without being fully protected. There are still many health risks that are associated with Tritium. Exhaling, drinking and eating substance containing tritium is highly risky for your body. Once tritium has been injected or ingested into the human body, the half-life of the tritium is minimized to 7-14 days which also minimizes the power of the tritium, but still dangerous. A research which took place in Karnataka, India, shows that the half-life is partially based on
Iron comes from the Latin word ferrum. From ferrum its symbol became Fe. The atomic number of iron is 26, and its atomic weight is 55.845. Iron is a magnetic, bendable, shiny white metallic element.
There are many contributing factors that enhance the amount of lead in the environment, for instance, environmental lead occurs from the burning of leaded gasoline, from battery and smelter industries and it’s also found in ink and paper. Additionally, many canned food products are sealed with lead solder (Analytical Research Laboratories, 2012). Due to the vast quantity of lead found in the environment, exposure is inevitable. On the contrary, there are three main ways in which lead can enter the body: inhalation, ingestion or absorption through the skin. It may be inhaled when it is burned or melted, releasing some of the lead as a fume and or when dust that contains lead becomes airborne. In terms of ingestion, lead may be ingested through drinking water, when dust particles containing lead come in contact with food or food preparation surfaces, etc. In particular cases that inv...
From the Greek word "lithos" meaning "stone", it was so named due to the fact that it was discovered from a mineral source; whereas the other two common Group 1 elements, Sodium and Potassium, were found in plant sources. Its symbol, Li, was taken directly from its name. Soon after stumbling upon Lithium, Arfvedson also found traces of the metal in the minerals Spodumene and Lepidolite. In 1818, C.G. Gmelin discovered that Lithium salts color flames a bright red. Neither, Gmelin or Arfvedson, however, were able to isolate the element itself from the Lithium salts. They both tried to reduce the oxide by heating it with Iron or Carbon, but neither met with the success of W.T. Brande and Sir Humphrey Davy. They managed to perform the first isolation of elemental Lithium by the electrolysis of Lithium oxide. Electrolysis is a chemical reaction, which is brought about by the passage of current from an external energy source such as a battery. In 1855, the scientists Bunsen and Mattiessen isolated larger quantities of the metal by electrolysis of Lithium chloride.
What the periodic table tells us? Why its discovery had taken up more than 50 years? Why is Mendeleev considered to be the ‘father’ of the Periodic Table? The periodic table is one of the most noticeable icons in chemistry. This table shows the organization of the elements in horizontal rows, called periods, and in vertical columns, called groups. It is an arrangement according to the increase of their atomic number in each element, which is equal with the number of the protons in the nucleus, and also based on similar chemical behavior and physical characteristics. Although more than 80 scientists tried to organize the elements systematically, the Russian professor of chemistry, Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev was the first person who successfully
Hazardous materials come in many forms and include: explosives, flammable and combustible substances, poisons and radioactive materials. These dangerous substances are usually released during a transportation accident or through accidents or chemical spills in plants and factories. Since hazardous materials are shipped or transported through a variety of ways including l, waterways, and major highways and the release of these chemicals could cause serious harm. They can enter our water ways from oil rig spills or enter the environment from a train derailment or a container truck accident. The affects of a hazardous materials incident can include serious injury or death, serious health effects and property damage and environmental damage including bodies of water.
The Periodic Table of Elements is commonly used today when studying elements. This table’s history begins in ancient times when Greek scientists first started discovering different elements. Over the years, many different forms of the periodic table have been made which set the basis for the modern table we use today. This table includes over 100 elements and are arranged by groups and periods. Groups being vertical columns and periods being horizontal columns. With all of the research conducted over the years and the organization of this table, it is easy to use when needed.
Arsenic is a very dangerous toxin because of its discreet properties. This element has no color, taste or odor especially when place...