Name any metal that is dangerous to people?

Answer 1

There are lots, but the most dangerous is considered to be mercury (Hg). Just touching or inhaling it can be dangerous.

Lead (Pb) can be dangerous in the blood stream and almost any other metal, except iron, can be toxic in some respects. The recent news of some many childrens toys from China using lead paint is a serious issue since lead causes brain damage.

Look at the periodic table of elements and see what elements are considered to be metals: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodic_table#Arrangement
and you will find that a large amount of the table is some sort of metal.

The transition metals are the worst and the higher element numbers are radioactive so the radioactivity makes them dangerous just to be near. Practically any element of atomic number 86 or higher is radioactive in some extents. Elements 104-111 are not naturally existing metals, but they are all highly radioactive.

According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadmium#Toxicity
"Cadmium (pronounced /ˈkædmiəm/) is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. A relatively rare, soft, bluish-white, transition metal, cadmium is known to cause cancer and occurs with zinc ores. Cadmium is used largely in batteries and pigments, for example in plastic products....

Cadmium is an occupational hazard associated with industrial processes such as metal plating and the production of nickel-cadmium batteries, pigments, plastics and other synthetics. The primary route of exposure in industrial settings is inhalation. Inhalation of cadmium-containing fumes can result initially in metal fume fever but may progress to chemical pneumonitis, pulmonary edema, and death."

According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmium
"Osmium (pronounced /ˈɒzmiəm/) is a chemical element that has the symbol Os and atomic number 76. Osmium is a hard, brittle, blue-gray or blue-black transition metal in the platinum family, and is one of the densest natural elements, competing for this status with iridium...

The tetroxide (and a related compound, potassium osmate) are important oxidants for chemical synthesis, despite being very poisonous."

Potassium (K) is essential for life, but too much of it is fast acting lethal poison.

Many people can't wear some jewelry because of an allergy to the metals, so they need surgical steel or similar alternatives. This means that some people can be allergic to gold (Au), sliver (Ag), tin (Sn), nickel (Ni) etc.

According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technetium
"Technetium (pronounced /tɛkˈniːʃɪəm/) is the lightest chemical element with no stable isotope. It has atomic number 43 and is given the symbol Tc. The chemical properties of this silvery grey, crystalline transition metal are intermediate between rhenium and manganese. Its short-lived gamma-emitting nuclear isomer 99mTc (technetium-99m) is used in nuclear medicine for a wide variety of diagnostic tests...

Technetium is a silvery-grey radioactive metal with an appearance similar to platinum. However, it is commonly obtained as a grey powder. Its position in the periodic table is between rhenium and manganese and as predicted by the periodic law its properties are intermediate between those two elements. Technetium is unusual among the lighter elements in that it has no stable isotopes. Only technetium and promethium have no stable isotopes, but are followed by elements which do.

Technetium is therefore extremely rare on Earth. Technetium plays no natural biological role and is not normally found in the human body."

Gamma rays are the strongest form of radiation and one of the most dangerous cancer causing forms of radiation.

According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niobium#Precautions
"Niobium (pronounced /naɪˈoʊbiəm/), or columbium (/kəˈlʌmbiəm/) is a chemical element that has the symbol Nb and atomic number 41. A rare, soft, gray, ductile transition metal, niobium is found in pyrochlore and columbite...

Niobium-containing compounds are relatively rarely encountered by most people, but many are highly toxic and should be treated with care. Metallic niobium dust is an eye and skin irritant and also can be a fire hazard. Niobium has no known biological role."

I just picked those last two at random. Your question should be which metal is NOT dangerous to most people. Anemia a medical illness when you don't have enough iron, but even too much iron can be toxic.

Answer 2

Thallium, lead, plutonium, beryllium, the list is long..... Most anything in excess is dangerous, including metals. Some metals are essential to our health. Even these are dangerous in excess. Others are not essential, and may or, may not present a hazard if we are exposed. It depends.

IMHO as a degreed chemist, there are a number of metals that are far more dangerous than some that make top news. Lead and mercury make a lot of headlines, but their toxicity doesn't begin to approach that of some others. True, lead is very bad for us, especially young people. Likewise, mercury is a bad actor. We should minimize our exposure to both, as well as their emission into the environment. However, the notion that the most trivial exposure to these metals poses grave danger is nonsense. Other metals pose far greater threats.

In my youth, mercury metal was regarded as toxic, yet it was common for kids to coat silver coins with it and carry them in their pockets. I never knew anyone to have ill effects, and the notion of clearing a classroom if a thermometer is broken - as is common nowadays - seems ridiculous to me.

In earlier times, mercury was used in many medications. The amount in a thermometer doesn't pose much hazard, and at one time much larger amounts of the metal were taken internally as a standard practice. Mercury compounds tend to be much more toxic than the metal, however, and caution is certainly due. I do not advocate a cavalier attitude toward mercury and lead, BTW, but suggest that we keep the relative hazards in perspective.

So, what metals are more dangerous than mercury? There are quite a few: Thallium is far more toxic. Beryllium can raise havoc with small exposure. Plutonium or radium are really bad, but present a special case: When we consider radioactive metals, a whole different mechanism comes into play: Is the metal itself really chemically toxic, or is it the radiation that does the damage?

There is a big difference, technically. As an example, sodium is common, essential to life, and we consume significant amounts every day. Ordinary sodium is not chemically toxic, unless we ingest it in excess. Yet sodium has a highly radioactive isotope that would kill us in short order were we to be exposed to it. Likewise, lead is chemically toxic, yet has no seriously radioactive isotopes.

Like I said, it all depends.

Answer 3

Lead, mercury, cadmium. Almost any metal can be dangerous to humans depending on exposure and if it has been ingested (and how much was ingested).

Answer 4

mercury, it is a liquid metal but still a metal and definitely dangerous

Answer 5

thallium is my personal favorite. haha, i did a project on it :]