What are the uses for cadmium?
Cadmium became an important metal in the production of nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) rechargeable batteries and as a sacrificial corrosion-protection coating for iron and steel. Common industrial uses for cadmium today are in batteries, alloys, coatings (electroplating), solar cells, plastic stabilizers, and pigments.
What is an interesting fact about cadmium?
It is found naturally in the earth’s crust and is a relatively rare metal, ranking 67th in abundance among the 90 naturally occurring elements on Earth. Cadmium is odorless and tasteless, and chemical analysis is most often required to detect its presence.
What are three uses for the element cadmium?
Cadmium occurs as a minor component in most zinc ores and is a byproduct of zinc production. Cadmium was used for a long time as a corrosion-resistant plating on steel, and cadmium compounds are used as red, orange and yellow pigments, to color glass, and to stabilize plastic.
What are the uses and properties of cadmium?
It is soluble in acids but not in alkalis. It is similar in many respects to zinc but it forms more complex compounds. 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.
Is cadmium used in paint?
Cadmium is one of the main components used to create bright and intense pigments in red, yellow, and brown hues. Claude Monet’s famous yellow hues, for example, were painted with cadmium pigments.
What are 3 interesting facts about cadmium?
The bluish-white metal that is known as cadmium is malleable, ductile and can easily be cut with a knife. Due to its excellence as an electrical conductor, cadmium is often used in electroplating and in batteries. Also, cadmium and solutions of its compounds are toxic and must be handled carefully.
What foods have cadmium in them?
Cadmium in food Foodstuffs are the main source of cadmium exposure for the non-smoking general population. The food groups that contribute most of the dietary cadmium exposure are cereals and cereal products, vegetables, nuts and pulses, starchy roots or potatoes, and meat and meat products.
Why is cadmium banned?
The ban on cadmium in jewelry is intended to protect consumers, particularly children, from the toxic metal, which has been increasingly showing up in inexpensive costume jewelry imported from China.
What is cadmium in food?
Cadmium in food Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal found as an environmental contaminant, both through natural occurrence and from industrial and agricultural sources. Foodstuffs are the main source of cadmium exposure for the non-smoking general population. Cadmium can also cause bone demineralisation.
Is cadmium still used?
Most of the cadmium produced worldwide has been for use in rechargeable nickel–cadmium batteries, which have been replaced by other rechargeable nickel-chemistry cell varieties such as NiMH cells, but about half of the remaining consumption of cadmium, which is approximately 2,000 tonnes (2,200 short tons) annually, is …