Rise in Heavy Metals a Toxic Risk

Rise in Heavy Metals

As we continue to have more demand for specialized metals worldwide, extracting and using some of those metals are causing us serious harm. This is especially true regarding heavy metals, which tend to be extremely toxic to us and the soil and food supplies around us.

What are heavy metals?

From a scientific definition, they are elements that are metallic in nature that are very dense. These elements are on the Periodic Table with high atomic weights and numbers. They are naturally occurring and critical to modern construction and fabrication.

Heavy metal applications range from battery construction to the formation of steel to wiring and plumbing. They are also used in construction as a preservative and even in ammunition. The common heavy metals are copper, lead, mercury, nickel, chromium, arsenic, and cadmium.

Where are heavy metals found?

Besides simply existing naturally in nature, they can also be found through excavation mining, specialized processes, and even agriculture. As a result, they can be seen in our soil, water, air, and sometimes even our foods.

They come into our environment through naturally occurring erosion and volcanic eruptions. Yet the issue that comes from these metals is that we are introducing them into our environments too often. As already mentioned, they are quite a toxic group of elements to us. This means we need to have more awareness regarding the overall usage and maintenance of heavy metals.

Dangers of heavy metals and toxicity

As mentioned, the issue is toxicity. While many actions are being taken to reduce exposure, it is starting to get into our food supply due to how much more we are using heavy metals these days.

With recent testing, there have been toxic levels discovered in our favorite drinks. Whether it is fruit juice, soda, tea or even milk; they will always have trace amounts of these heavy metals, but they have only recently hit toxic limits. There have even been instances of heavy metals being found at dangerous levels in some food items, such as chocolate.

The health damage of heavy metals is numerous and extremely serious. They can be life-threatening and even cause death. They can cause neurological damage, destroy the organs, and cause renal failure. Heavy metals have also been known to result in developmental problems and even cancer.

They additionally damage the cardiovascular system leading to high blood pressure and heart damage. Gastrointestinal damage is also common, from vomiting and diarrhea to general system irritation. It all depends on what type of heavy metal was ingested and the quantity.

Testing for heavy metals

This makes it more vital now than ever that testing for heavy metals must be commonplace. It can help to prevent contaminated food and beverages from hitting our supermarkets and accidentally being consumed. With extensive continuous testing, we can also ensure detection with the environment and our soil to see where better places to farm are.

Finally, with proper testing for heavy metals we can conduct testing on ourselves and catch the issues heavy metals can cause early on. This helps to prevent and reverse the damage they have caused before it is too late.

In Conclusion

The usage will only increase with heavy metals going forward. Unfortunately, that means the risk to us, and our bodies will also increase. Besides taking necessary precautions when producing, extracting, or disposing of heavy metals, we must also ensure that testing on heavy metals is a standard process in many situations.

Of course, eventually, the best effort will be to reduce our demand for heavy metals, which will reduce the overall dangers and damages heavy metals can cause.