Heavy Metals Flashcards
(10 cards)
In the 1950s, many people in Minimata, Japan, were becoming sick and dying from a mysterious disease that affected their nervous systems. What was it caused by?
Investigators found that the disease could be linked to eating local fish that contained large quantities of mercury. The mercury was traced to a chemical company that had been dumping its waste into the ocean. People who caught and ate the fish from this area were affected by mercury poisoning.
The symptoms of mercury poisoning include
what?
Numbness of arms and legs, involuntary movements, nerve damage, and
brain damage.
What are heavy metals?
They are called heavy metals because they have a density of 5 g/cm3 or more. This means they are five or more times heavier than an equal volume of water.
Examples of heavy metals include
Copper, lead, zinc, mercury, cadmium, and
nickel.
Everyday items containing heavy metals include
Batteries, rubber tires, gasoline, paints, pipes, thermometers, and some fertilizers.
Heavy metals can be toxic to a wide range of organisms, including humans, so…
Water quality monitoring includes checking concentrations of heavy metals.
Usually, large amounts of heavy metals are not readily available in the environment for uptake by plants or ingestion by animals. However some situations can increase their availability. Give an example.
Acidic water can dissolve lead in pipes.
Cadmium is present in some what?
Fertilizers as an impurity. Plants growing in basic soils are able to take in this cadmium.
If animals eat plants containing high levels of heavy metals over long periods…
They may experience serious health problems
The heavy metal lead is especially harmful to who and can affect them how? How was it used in the past?
Children. It affects normal development and cause permanent brain damage or even death. In the past, lead was used in common products such as gasoline and pipes for water systems.
