1. HARMFUL ELEMENTS

2. This presentation will show some of the
harmful elements in the periodic table.
As you go over the presentation, you
will see the uses of the elements, its
bad effects on humans, and its effects
on the environment.
INTRODUCTION

3. ELEMENTS
∞ Beryllium
Uses
Effects on Humans
Effects on the Environment ∞ Mercury
Uses
Effects on Humans
∞ Cobalt Effects on the Environment
Uses
Effects on Humans
Effects on the Environment ∞ Radon
Uses
Effects on Humans
∞ Lead Effects on the Environment
Uses
Effects on Humans
Effects on the Environment
How is it Abused

4. ELEMENTS
∞ Nickel
Uses
Effects on Humans
Effects on the Environment
∞ Uranium ∞ Bismuth
Uses Uses
Effects on Humans Effects on Humans
Effects on the Environment Effects on the Environment
∞ Polonium
Uses
Effects on Humans
Effects on the Environment

5. The atomic number of beryllium is four, and it is indicated by the
BERYLLIUM symbol Be on the periodic table of elements. It is the lightest of the
alkaline earth elements, and appears in a rigid, steely gray form
when it is pure. The element is able to resist corrosion rather
well, and it also has a very high melting point. This traits make it a
popular inclusion in metal alloys. The hexagonal crystalline structure
of beryllium makes it very rigid, and the metal also has excellent
thermal and electrical conductivity.

6. BERYLLIUM Home
USES
• The element is used as window material for X-ray tubes.
Beryllium X-ray Tube with Window

7. BERYLLIUM Home
EFFECTS ON HUMANS
• This metallic element can be very harmful to humans when they
breathe it in, because it can damage the lungs and cause pneumonia.
• The most commonly known effect of beryllium is called berylliosis, a
dangerous and persistent lung disorder that can also damage other vital
organs. In about 20% of all cases people die of this disease.
• Beryllium can also cause allergic reactions to people who are
hypersensitive to this chemical element and its compounds. These
allergic reactions can be very dangerous and they can even cause a
person to be seriously ill, a condition known as Chronic Beryllium
Disease (CBD).
• Beryllium can also increase the chances of cancer development and
DNA damage.

8. BERYLLIUM Home
EFFECTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT
• Laboratory tests have indicated that it is possible for beryllium to cause
cancer and changes of DNA with animals.

9. COBALT The atomic number of cobalt is 27, and it is identified with the symbol
Co on the periodic table of elements. The name for the metal is
derived from the German word for “goblin,” a reference to the goblins
which supposedly used it to replace valuable silver ores. The element
was also considered a goblin because it tended to appear frequently
with arsenic, a highly toxic element. When smelted, arsenic fumes
would be released, threatening the health of workers.

10. COBALT Home
USES
• Excessive cobalt exposure may occur in the hard metal industry, cobalt
refineries, specialist alloy manufacture, magnet manufacturing, in the
paint industry and in diamond tooling.
Alloy
Magnet
Paint

11. COBALT Home
EFFECTS ON HUMANS
• Cobalt inhalation can lead to „hard metal disease‟, respiratory
sensitization, pneumonia, wheezing, and asthma.
• Because it is not regulated at the point of absorption, cobalt can be
toxic to humans when consumed in excessive quantities.
• Excesses can cause polycythemia (increased red blood cells), bone
marrow hyperplasia, pancreatic failure or congestive heart failure and
cardiomyopathy, and large doses interfere with iron absorption.

12. COBALT Home
EFFECTS ON HUMANS
• Some who drank large quantities of the beer experienced nausea,
vomiting, and heart injury.
• However, heart injury was not seen in anemic people or pregnant
women treated with cobalt.
Nausea

13. COBALT Home
EFFECTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT
• Animal studies have shown abnormal fatal development in animals
exposed to high concentrations of cobalt during pregnancy.
• It is a possible carcinogen to humans, but human studies are
currently inconclusive.
• Animal studies show that cobalt causes cancer when placed directly into
the muscle or under the skin, but not when the animals were exposed to
cobalt in air, food, or drinking water. Skin contact with cobalt or some of
its compounds can lead to allergic dermatitis.

14. When lead is freshly isolated, it is a bright, silvery metal. However, exposure
LEAD to air quickly causes it to tarnish, acquiring a dull gray color which is familiar
to many people. The element is soft enough to be cut with shears or a knife,
and it has a very low melting point. It also happens to be resistant to many
corrosives. Lead has the atomic number 82, and it is identified on the
periodic table of elements with the symbol Pb. If you're wondering what the
letters “P” and “B” have to do with L-E-A-D, the “Pb” refers to the Latin
name, plumbum; the English name appears to be Celtic in origin.

15. LEAD
USES
• Lead Paint
• Imported Candies
→ Lead has been found in candy and candy wrappers imported
primarily from Mexico and Asia.
• Hobbies and art
→ Some art supplies, such as artists' paint, still have lead in them.
Some hobbies require the use of lead, such as stained glass, firing
guns, making ammunition, and making fishing lures and sinkers.
Lead Paint Artist’s Paint

16. LEAD Home
USES
• Dishware
→ Imported glazed pottery and leaded crystal may also be sources
of lead. Minimize the use of these products.
• Lead at work
→ Adults who work in industries that use lead (battery
manufacturing, pipe fitting, firing ranges, demolition, glass
production, smelting operations, etc.) should be careful not to bring
lead home with them. Shower and change clothes and shoes at
work. Do not contaminate your car.
Lead Pipes
Battery Manufacturing Firing Ranges

17. LEAD Home
EFFECTS ON HUMANS
ADULTS:
KIDS: • Increased chance of illness during
• Learning disabilities resulting in a pregnancy
decreased intelligence (decreased IQ) • Harm to a fetus, including brain
• Attention deficit disorder damage or death
• Behavior issues •Fertility problems in both men and
• Nervous system damage women
• Speech and language impairment • High blood pressure
• Decreased muscle growth • Digestive issues
• Decreased bone growth • Nerve disorders
• Kidney damage • Memory and concentration problems
• Muscle and joint pain

18. LEAD Home
EFFECTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT
• Lead affects the central nervous system of animals and inhibits their
ability to synthesize red blood cells.
• Lead salts through the exhausts of cars pollute soils or surface waters,
and smaller particles of these will travel long distances through air and
remain in the atmosphere. This has caused a lead pollution to be a
worldwide issue.

19. LEAD Home
HOW IS IT ABUSED
Lead occurs naturally in the environment. However, most lead
concentrations that are found in the environment are a result of human
activities. Due to the application of lead in gasoline an unnatural lead-
cycle has consisted. In car engines lead is burned, so that lead salts
(chlorines, bromines, oxides) will originate.
These lead salts enter the environment through the exhausts of cars. The
larger particles will drop to the ground immediately and pollute soils or
surface waters, the smaller particles will travel long distances through air
and remain in the atmosphere. Part of this lead will fall back on earth when
it is raining. This lead-cycle caused by human production is much more
extended than the natural lead-cycle. It has caused lead pollution to be a
worldwide issue.

20. MERCURY Mercury is a metallic element with the atomic number 80 and the
symbol Hg, from the Latinhydragyrus, which means “liquid silver.” On
the periodic table of elements, it is found in Group 2B, just below
cadmium, and in Period 6 between gold and thallium. It is referred to
as a “transition metal.” It is a heavy element that is liquid at room
temperature. Described as silvery-white in color, it is poisonous.

21. MERCURY Home
USES
• Metallic mercury is used in a variety of household products, such as
barometers, thermometers and fluorescent light bulbs.
Barometer Thermometer Fluorescent Light
Bulb

22. MERCURY Home
EFFECTS ON HUMANS
• Mercury has a number of effects on humans, that can all of them be
simplified into the following main effects:
- 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
Damaged brain functions can cause degradation of learning abilities,
personality changes, tremors, vision changes, deafness, muscle
incoordination and memory loss. Chromosomal damage is known to
cause mongolism.

23. MERCURY Home
EFFECTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT
• Mercury from soils can accumulate in mushrooms.
• Acidic surface waters can contain significant amounts of mercury. When
the pH values are between five and seven, the mercury concentrations in
the water will increase due to mobilisation of mercury in the ground.
Mushrooms

24. MERCURY Home
EFFECTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT
• Once mercury has reached surface waters or soils microorganisms can
convert it to methyl mercury, a substance that can be absorbed quickly
by most organisms and is known to cause nerve damage. Fish are
organisms that absorb great amounts of methyl mercury from surface
waters every day. As a consequence, methyl mercury can accumulate in
fish and in the food chains that they are part of.
• The effects that mercury has on animals are kidneys damage, stomach
disruption, damage to intestines, reproductive failure and DNA alteration.

25. RADON Radon is a metallic element with the atomic number 86 and the
symbol Rn. On the periodic table of elements, it is found in Group
8A and in Period 6 to the right of astatine. Radon is one of the
Noble gases, also called the inert gases, along
with helium, neon, argon, krypton, and xenon. Its name comes
from a variation on another element, radium.

26. RADON Home
USES
• Radon has been used in some spas for presumed medical effects. In
addition, radon is used to initiate and influence chemical reactions and
as a surface label in the study of surface reactions. It has been
obtained by pumping the gases off of a solution of a radium salt,
sparking the gas mixture to combine the hydrogen and oxygen,
removing the water and carbon dioxide by adsorption, and freezing out
the radon.
Used in Spas

27. RADON Home
EFFECTS ON HUMANS
•Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer and a serious public
health concern.
•The primary adverse health effect associated with chronic exposure to
radon is lung cancer (typically bronchogenic):
-squamous cell carcinoma
-small cell carcinoma
-adenocarcinoma
-large cell carcinoma

28. RADON Home
EFFECTS ON HUMANS
•Other harmful respiratory effects associated with chronic exposure to
radon include:
1.) emphysema
2.) pulmonary fibrosis
3.) chronic interstitial pneumonia
4.) silicosis
5.) respiratory lesions
• Radon also has the potential to generate
genotoxic effects- higher incidence of
chromosomal aberrations.

29. RADON Home
EFFECTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT
• Experimental investigations using animals, miners, and molecular and
cellular studies provide supporting evidence and some understanding of
the mechanisms by which radon (i.e., alpha radiation) causes lung
cancer. These types of studies are not direct investigations concerning
the effects of radon and may have confounding variables that need
attention.
• Health effects observed in animals exposed to radon and radon decay
products include lung carcinomas, pulmonary fibrosis, emphysema, and
a shortening of life-span. The incidence of respiratory tract tumors
increased with an increase in cumulative exposure and with a decrease
in rate of exposure.

30. NICKEL Pure nickel is silvery gray in appearance, and it can be polished to
a bright shine. The metal is also ferromagnetic, and very
ductile, meaning that it can easily be melted and worked. It is
relatively hard and strong, making it a great addition to alloys with
softer or more fragile metals. On the periodic table of elements, it
is identified with the symbol Ni, and it has an atomic number of 28.

31. NICKEL Home
USES
• Nickel is a compound that occurs in the environment only at very low
levels. Humans use nickel for many different applications. The most
common application of nickel is the use as an ingredient of steal and
other metal products. It can be found in common metal products such
as jewelry. Nickel can also be found in detergents.
Jewelleries Detergents

32. NICKEL Home
EFFECTS ON HUMANS
• An uptake of too large quantities of nickel has the following
consequences:
- Higher chances of development of lung cancer, nose cancer, larynx
cancer
and prostate cancer
- Sickness and dizziness after exposure to nickel gas
- Lung embolism
- Respiratory failure
- Birth defects
- Asthma and chronic bronchitis
- Allergic reactions such as skin rashes, mainly from jewelry
- Heart disorders
Nickel fumes are respiratory irritants and may cause pneumonitis.
Exposure to nickel and its compounds may result in the development of
a dermatitis known as “nickel itch” in sensitized individuals.

33. NICKEL Home
EFFECTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT
• For animals, nickel is an essential food stuff in small amounts. But nickel
is not only favorable as an essential element; it can also be dangerous
when the maximum tolerable amounts are exceeded. This can cause
various kinds of cancer on different sites within the bodies of animals,
mainly of those that live near refineries.
• Nickel is released into the air by power plants and trash incinerators. It
will than settle to the ground or fall down after reactions with raindrops. It
usually takes a long time for nickel to be removed from air. Nickel can
also end up in surface water when it is a part of wastewater streams.

34. URANIUM When uranium is isolated from the metal ores it occurs in, it is a silvery white, very
heavy metal which is extremely reactive and a little bit softer than steel.
Because uranium is so reactive, it quickly forms a thick gray to black tarnish when
exposed to air. There are 14 known isotopes of uranium, and the element also
appears in a number of chemical compounds, some of which have industrial uses.
You can find uranium on the periodic table of elements by looking for the “U”
symbol, or atomic number 92.

35. URANIUM Home
USES
• Uranium is also used as the fissile explosive to create nuclear
weaponry.
• Uranium is used to power nuclear powered submarines and ships.
• Uranium was used in photographic chemicals, lamp filaments, to
improve the whiteness of dentures and in the leather and wood industry
as stains and dyes.
• Uranium is also mined to isolate radium for use in glow in the dark
paints for clock faces and aircraft dials.
• The radioisotopes from uranium are used in smoke detectors.
• Uranium metal is used as ballasts in yachts and airplanes.

36. URANIUM Home
EFFECTS ON HUMANS
• Uranium is harmful to humans because it is an essential nuclear
element. As far as human knowledge knows anything that has a
nuclear composition is not good to humans. Uranium exposure can
affect the human body system. It can depreciate the functions of vital
organs such as the heart, brain, liver and kidney. Uranium can be
retained in many different ways. It has smaller components known as
radon. This can be exhaled through contaminated food or water. But,
such exposure is only minor. Major exposures include working in
factories or government facilities that uses uranium.

37. URANIUM Home
EFFECTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT
• Uranium is a possible polluting agent of the natural environment.
• Uranium is a toxic and radioactive chemical element.
• Uranium release radium and radon.

38. The instability of this element makes it difficult for scientists to identify its
POLONIUM chemical properties. It takes on a solid shape in pure form, and appears to
have a crystalline physical structure. It is typically classified as a metalloid,
and as one might imagine, it is highly toxic due to its radioactivity. Given the
rarity of polonium, you are unlikely to encounter it; if you see enough to be
able to be able to examine its physical properties, you will be dead from
radiation exposure. On the periodic table of elements, you can
find polonium under Po, and it has an atomic number of 84.

39. POLONIUM Home
USES
• It has recently been found in the tobacco used in cigarettes.
• It is used on brushes to clean film, and can provide thermoelectric
power in space satellites.
• It can also be used as a poison,
Tobacco in Cigars Brushes in cleaning
Poison
films

40. POLONIUM Home
EFFECTS ON HUMANS
•Polonium is harmful both through its chemical toxicity and its
radioactivity. Exposure to polonium increases the
risk of getting various cancers.
•Polonium is an extremely dangerous substance. When it breaks down,
it gives off alpha particles. These particles are tiny, atom-sized particles
that can destroy cells. Polonium is considered to be more than 100
billion times more dangerous than hydrogen cyanide. The maximum
suggested exposure to the element is no more than about seven one
hundred-billionths of a gram.

41. POLONIUM Home
EFFECTS ON HUMANS
• Polonium is an extremely dangerous material. It has recently been
found in the tobacco used in cigarettes.
• A relatively new hazard of polonium has recently been identified. The
element has been found in the tobacco used in cigarettes and other
products. The amount of polonium taken in by a smoker is
approximately equal to that taken in from all other sources. Polonium
must be added, therefore, to the list of harmful chemicals inhaled during
smoking.

42. POLONIUM Home
EFFECTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT
• Polonium is the only component of cigarette smoke to produce cancer in
laboratory animals. The polonium in tobacco is absorbed from phosphate
fertilizers.
Tobacco in Cigars

43. BISMUTH In addition to occurring in various minerals, bismuth also can be found in
pure form in nature. When it is pure, the element is white with a reddish
tinge, and sometimes almost pink. It has a crystalline chemical structure that
makes it extremely brittle, and it is rather unique among the elements for
having a liquid state that is more dense than its solid; water shares this
interesting property. On the periodic table of elements, bismuth is identified
as Bi, and the element has an atomic number of 83.

44. BISMUTH Home
USES
• Bismuth is mostly used as an ingredient in pharmaceutical products. It
is used to treat diarrhea and some other digestive problems and
diseases. It is also added to some eye drops that are used to treat eye
infections.
• A common feature of alloys of bismuth is a low melting point. This
means that they are suitable for use as solders. The added benefit of
this is that toxic solders containing lead can be replaced by the safer
bismuth.
• Another alloy containing bismuth utilizes its low melting point for fire
detection.

45. BISMUTH Home
USES
• Lead is commonly being replaced by bismuth in many applications for
safety reasons. Some of these replacements include; pigment for paint,
fishing sinkers, bullets and shot, brass for plumbing and as an ingredient
in grease for lubrication.
• A specific isotope of bismuth is used for treating patients with leukemia.
• It is used in ceramic glazes to produce iridescence (where a color of an
object appears to change as you view it from a different angle).
• Bismuth and tellurium form a compound called Bismuth telluride, which is
used in mobile refrigerators and for cooling computer processors.

46. BISMUTH Home
EFFECTS ON HUMANS
• Routes of entry: Inhalation, skin and ingestion.
Acute effects:
- Inhalation: POISON
 May be a nuisance dust causing respiratory irritation. May c
cause foul breath, metallic taste and gingivitis.
- Ingestion: POISON
• May cause nausea, loss of appetite and weight, malaise,
albuminuria, diarrhea, skin reactions, stomatitis, headache,
fever, sleeplessness, depression, rheumatic pain and a black
line may form on gums in the mouth due to deposition of bismuth
sulphide.
- Skin: May cause irritation.
- Eyes: May cause irritation.

47. BISMUTH Home
EFFECTS ON HUMANS
Chronic effects:
- Inhalation: May affect the function of the liver and the kidneys.
- Ingestion: May affect the function of the liver and the kidneys.
May cause anemia, black line may form on gums and
ulcerative stomatitis.
- Skin: May cause dermatitis.
- Eyes: No chronic health effects recorded.
• Medical conditions generally aggravated by the exposure: Pre-existing
skin and respiratory disorders.
• Bismuth is not considered a human carcinogen.

48. BISMUTH Home
EFFECTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT
• Bismuth metal is not considered toxic and poses minimum threat to the
environment. Bismuth compounds generally have very low solubility but
they should be handled with care, as there is only limited information on
their effects and fate in the environment.

49. The elements are not really harmful.
They are even helpful to us. They only
become harmful to us if we use them
excessively. As they say, “Too much is
dangerous”, we should not abuse them.
Using high amounts of these is bad for
our body and to the environment.
CONCLUSION