Hard Metal Chromium

Chromium is a lustrous, brittle, hard metal. Its colour is silver-gray and it can be highly polished. It does not tarnish in air, when heated it burns and forms the green chromic oxide. Chromium is unstable in oxygen. Chromium main uses are in alloys such as stainless steel, in chrome plating and in metal ceramics. Chromium plating was once widely used to give steel a polished silvery mirror coating. Chromium is used in metallurgy to impart corrosion resistance. Chromium is mined as chromite (FeCr2O4) ore.

Health effects of chromium

People can be exposed to chromium through breathing, eating or drinking and through skin contact with chromium or chromium compounds. The level of chromium in air and water is generally low. In drinking water, the level of chromium is usually low as well, but contaminated well water may contain the dangerous chromium(IV); hexavalent chromium. For most people eating food that contains chromium(III) is the main route of chromium uptake, as chromium(III) occurs naturally in many vegetables, fruits, meats, yeasts and grains. Chromium(III) is an essential nutrient for humans and shortages may cause heart conditions, disruptions of metabolisms and diabetes. But the uptake of too much chromium(III) can cause health effects as well, for instance skin rashes.

Chromium(VI) is a danger to human health, mainly for people who work in the steel and textile industry. People who smoke tobacco also have a higher chance of exposure to chromium. Chromium(VI) is known to cause various health effects. When it is a compound in leather products, it can cause allergic reactions, such as skin rash. After breathing it in chromium(VI) can cause nose irritations and nosebleeds. The health hazards associated with exposure to chromium are dependent on its oxidation state. The metal form is of low toxicity. The hexavalent form is toxic.

Environmental effects of chromium

Chromium enters the air, water and soil in the chromium(III) and chromium(VI) form through natural processes and human activities. The main human activities that increase the concentrations of chromium (III) are steal, leather and textile manufacturing. The main human activities that increase chromium(VI) concentrations are chemical, leather and textile manufacturing, electro painting and other chromium(VI) applications in the industry. These applications will mainly increase concentrations of chromium in water. Through coal combustion chromium will also end up in air and through waste disposal chromium will end up in soils. Most of the chromium in air will eventually settle and end up in waters or soils. Chromium in soils strongly attaches to soil particles and as a result it will not move towards groundwater. In water chromium will absorb on sediment and become immobile. when the daily dose is too low. Chromium(VI) is mainly toxic to organisms. It can alter genetic materials and cause cancer. Crops contain systems that arrange the chromium-uptake to be low enough not to cause any harm. But when the amount of chromium in the soil rises, this can still lead to higher concentrations in crops. Acidification of soil can also influence chromium uptake by crops. Plants usually absorb only chromium(III). This may be the essential kind of chromium, but when concentrations exceed a certain value, negative effects can still occur. In animal’s chromium can cause respiratory problems, a lower ability to fight disease, birth defects, infertility and tumor formation.

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. About three-fourths of cadmium is used in Ni-Cd batteries, most of the remaining one-fourth is used mainly for pigments, coatings and plating, and as stabilizers for plastics. Cadmium has been used particularly to electroplate steel where a film of cadmium only 0.05 mm thick will provide complete protection against the sea.

Cadmium has the ability to absorb neutrons, so it is used as a barrier to control nuclear fission. Cadmium can mainly be found in the earth's crust. It always occurs in combination with zinc. Cadmium also consists in the industries as an inevitable by-product of zinc, lead and copper extraction. Naturally a very large amount of cadmium is released into the environment. About half of this cadmium is released into rivers through weathering of rocks and some cadmium is released into air through forest fires and volcanoes. The rest of the cadmium is released through human activities, such as manufacturing.

Health effects of cadmium

Human uptake of cadmium takes place mainly through food. Foodstuffs that are rich in cadmium can greatly increase the cadmium concentration in human bodies. An exposure to significantly higher cadmium levels occurs when people smoke. Tobacco smoke transports cadmium into the lungs. Blood will transport it through the rest of the body where it can increase effects by potentiating cadmium that is already present from cadmium-rich food. Other high exposures can occur with people who live near hazardous waste sites or factories that release cadmium into the air and people that work in the metal refinery industry. When people breathe in cadmium it can severely damage the lungs. This may even cause death. Cadmium accumulates in kidneys, where it damages filtering mechanisms. This causes the excretion of essential proteins and sugars from the body and further kidney damage.

Environmental effects of cadmium

Cadmium waste streams from the industries mainly end up in soils. Cadmium waste streams may also enter the air through (household) waste combustion and burning of fossil fuels. Because of regulations only little cadmium now enters the water through disposal of wastewater from households or industries. Another important source of cadmium emission is the production of artificial phosphate fertilizers. Part of the cadmium ends up in the soil after the fertilizer is applied on farmland and the rest of the cadmium ends up in surface waters when waste from fertilizer productions is dumped by production companies.

Cadmium can be transported over great distances when it is absorbed by sludge. This cadmium-rich sludge can pollute surface waters as well as soils. Cadmium strongly adsorbs to organic matter in soils. When cadmium is present in soils it can be extremely dangerous, as the uptake through food will increase. Soils that are acidified enhance the cadmium uptake by plants. This is a potential danger to the animals that are dependent upon the plants for survival. Cadmium can accumulate in their bodies, especially when they eat multiple plants. Cows may have large amounts of cadmium in their kidneys due to this. Animals eating or drinking cadmium sometimes get high blood-pressures, liver disease and nerve or brain damage.