Metal toxicity
Metal toxicity or metal poisoning is the negative effect certain metals have on living things (including humans) when they are found in high enough doses. Most heavy metals are toxic but some heavy metals (like iron) are essential for life.[1] Elements that we need in our body may also be toxic when in high doses. When a metal is inside the body enough to cause negative effects it is called metal toxicity. Some metals may cause different symptoms of their toxicity to others.
Testing and treatment for poisoning
People are always being exposed to metals in the environment. Medical tests can find metals in human bodies but these do not show that a person is poisoned. Metal screening tests should not be used unless there is reason to believe that a person has had been exposed to excess metals.[2]
A treatment for metal poisoning may be chelation therapy. Chelation is a type of bonding of ions and metals.[3]
Metal Toxicity Media
Structure of a metal aquo complex, a typical soluble form for many metal ions in water
Mercury being mixed with gold-containing materials to extract gold
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References
- ↑ Dartmouth Toxic Metals | Superfund Research Program. sites.dartmouth.edu. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
- ↑ American College of Medical Toxicology and The American Academy of Clinical Toxicology | Choosing Wisely (in en-US). www.choosingwisely.org (2015-02-24). Retrieved 2021-05-11.
- ↑ Metals, Microbes, and Minerals - the biogeochemical side of life (2021-01-18)De Gruyter. p. 59–80. ISBN 978-3-11-058890-3. doi:10.1515/9783110589771-009.