Elements - Healthy or Not Healthy Quiz

Answer: Healthy

Trace amounts of zinc are vital for immune function and cell growth. Through experiments, it's been shown that animals that are zinc-deficient need 50% more food to gain the same amount of weight that an animal with sufficient zinc.

Industrially, zinc is used in many alloys: brass, nickel silver, soft solder, and aluminum solder. It is also used in die castings and to galvanize other metals to prevent corrosion.

In the United States, pennies have been made with increasing amounts of zinc since 1864. Up until 1857, they were made of pure copper. For the next 7 years, they were copper: nickel in the ratio 88:12. From 1864 until 1942, they were a form of bronze, with 95% copper and 5% tin and zinc. In 1943, as a part of the war effort, they were made of steel with a zinc coating. In 1944-1946, they were again made with mainly copper, with 5% zinc. From 1946-1962 they were made with the pre-WWII bronze formula. The formula was swapped again to copper: zinc 95:5. Then in 1982, the price of copper rose to a point that pennies cost more to make than their face value. So the formula was flipped: they are now made with copper-plated zinc with the zinc: copper ratio of 97.5:2.5. With further price inflation, the now mostly-zinc pennies again cost more to make than their face value.

Zinc isn't considered toxic, but freshly-formed ZnO causes a disorder called oxide shakes or zinc chills. Concentrations over 5 mg/m^3 should be avoided.

Answer: Not Healthy

While xenon is not poisonous (it's a noble gas), if it is breathed in excess it can cause suffocation. It is heavier than air, so it settles to the bottom of the lungs. A parlor trick is to breathe xenon gas out of a balloon; it causes one's voice to become significantly lower in pitch.

A similar trick with helium makes one's voice squeaky high. With helium, the gas is lighter than air and will rise out of the lungs. Doing this trick with xenon, one should soon afterwards bend over and try to expel any leftover xenon.

Answer: Not Healthy

Plutonium -- along with all other transuranium elements -- is a radioactive hazard. It is more dangerous when inhaled (as a particulate or a gaseous compound), as it can pass into the bloodstream, then into the organs, most particularly bones and the liver. Plutonium that infiltrates organs generally stays for decades, continuing to expose the tissues to cancer-causing radiation.

Answer: Healthy

Copper is an essential mineral in the body. It is primarily used to aid with the production of energy, connective tissues, and blood vessels.

Also, copper is a key component of hemocyanin, an oxygen carrier in most mollusks and some arthropods. It gives their blood a blue color, as opposed to the red coloring of blood that uses iron-based hemoglobin.

Copper's abundance in the Earth's crust is 60 parts per million (ppm).

Answer: Healthy

Iron is the main constituent of hemoglobin, an oxygen carrier in many animals.

Iron is the fourth-most abundant element in the Earth's crust. The Earth's core is theorized to be composed mainly of iron (with 10% occluded hydrogen). It's strength makes it a main component in materials used in construction. It is usually alloyed with other metals and non-metals to create steel of various characteristics: lessened corrosion, extra strength, more malleable.

Answer: Not Healthy

Vanadium and its compounds are toxic and should be handled with care. The maximum allowable concentration of V2O5 dust in air is about 0.05 mg/cm^3.

It is used in producing rust-resistant and high-speed tool steels. It is also used to make a superconductive magnet with a field of 175,000 gauss.

Answer: Not Healthy

Radium was discovered in 1989 by Madame Curie, extracting it from various uranium ores. She used it extensively in her investigations of radioactivity, unknowingly causing bone marrow damage that ultimately killed her.

Radium-based paints were used in the early 20th century to create glow-in-the-dark watch faces. The young women - called Radium Girls - employed for painting the dials suffered and died from various radiation-related ailments. The company that employed them knew the risks, but hid that information from the women. Though tragic, their plight helped shape American labor laws and saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

Answer: Healthy

Selenium in the body acts as an antioxidant, which protects cells from free radical ions, which can cause cancer, heart disease, and other chronic diseases.

Industrially, selenium is used in xerography and as an additive to stainless steel.

Elemental selenium is practically nontoxic. However, hydrogen selenide (H2Se) and other selenium compounds are extremely toxic.

Answer: Healthy

Magnesium is the eighth-most abundant element in Earth's crust. It doesn't occur uncombined, but it found in many minerals.

Magnesium is an important constituent in plant chlorophylls, which is what plants use to convert solar energy into chemical energy. This is the base of the food chain, ultimately feeding all levels of animals. In animals, magnesium helps normalize blood pressure, strengthen bones, regulate heart rhythm, controls blood sugar levels. It's also a constituent of proteins and DNA.

Answer: Not Healthy

Nickel exposure should not exceed 0.05 mg/cm^3. Nickel sulfide dust and fume forms are suspected carcinogens.

Nickel is alloyed with copper in making desalination plants. Finely divided nickel is used as a catalyst in hydrogenating vegetable oils. And of course, it's used to make coins, most notably the US 5-cent piece, commonly called a nickel.

Answer: Healthy

Phosphorus is an essential component of all cell protoplasm, nervous tissue, and bones.

Phosphorus is never found free in nature. Pure phosphorus itself is poisonous; 50 mg is an estimated fatal dose for humans. Phosphorus use in body functions is strictly sourced from ingested foods.

Answer: Healthy

Elemental manganese is a gray-white metal, resembling iron, but harder and more brittle. Vast quantities of manganese in nodule form are found on the ocean floor and may become a source of the metal.

Manganese is a trace mineral that helps with bone and tissue formation, blood sugar regulation, and brain function. It also helps metabolize carbohydrates and fat.

Though it is utilized in the body, exposure to manganese dusts, fume, and compounds should be avoided, not to exceed 5 mg/m^3 concentration, even for short periods of time.

Answer: Healthy

Potassium is an essential element for plant growth. It is found in most soils. Its potash compounds are major constituents in plant fertilizers.

In animal bodies, the ionic form of potassium has many benefits. It regulates blood pressure by countering the negative effects of sodium. It facilitates muscle contraction, especially heart muscle. It supports bone density and reduces the risk of osteoporosis.

Like other alkali metals, potassium is never found free in nature, but is in combination with other elements.

Answer: Not Healthy

Bromine, the only nonmetallic liquid element (at standard temperature and pressure), is highly reactive, combining with many elements. It has a bleaching effect. If spilled on skin, it produces painful sores.

Bromine has many uses. It is used in making fumigants, flameproofing agents, water purification compounds, dyes, medicines, and sanitizers.

Answer: Not Healthy

Beryllium is found in 30 types of minerals, such as bertrandite, beryl, chrysoberyl, and phenacite. Precious forms of beryl include aquamarine and emeralds.

Beryllium is toxic and should be carefully handled. Beryllium has a sweet taste, but a taste test should NOT be used to verify its existence.

Answer: Healthy

Chromium is a trace mineral that helps regulate blood sugar and cholesterol. It aids in the breakdown of carbohydrates and fats.

However, evidence of taking chromium supplements for health is mixed. Normal food intake provides sufficient chromium for biological use.

Answer: Not Healthy

Lead has been known to mankind, since ancient times. Elemental lead does appear in nature, but rarely.

Lead has a particular use in science. It is used as a radiation shield around X-ray equipment, and in protective aprons for X-ray technicians.

Lead acetate (also known as "sugar of lead") (Pb(CH3COO)2) was used in ancient Rome to sweeten wine. This was widely done until it was realized that lead was highly toxic. It had been widely used in paints to produce a bright white color. But lead exposure to children in rooms painted with such paints was of great concern, so many such structures need to have their stripped of paint and re-painted with non-toxic paints.

Tetraethyllead (TEL) (Pb(C2H5)4) is an organolead compound that was added to gasoline to increase its octane rating. This allowed engine compression to be raised and this increased vehicle fuel economy and performance. However, widespread use of TEL caused lead poisoning in the human brain, especially in children. Its use in gasoline was phased out, starting in the 1970s. By 2000, most countries had banned its use. Since 2011, leaded gasoline has been banned in every country.

Answer: Not Healthy

Cadmium is used extensively in solders. It's also a major component of rechargeable nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) batteries. Its compounds were use in both black-and-white and color TV tubes.

Cadmium dust exposure should not exceed 0.01 mg/m^3 over a standard 40-hour work week.

Answer: Healthy

Elemental chlorine is a poisonous gas, irritating mucous membranes. Its liquid form burns the skin.

However, in nature it is only found in combination with other elements. The major source for it is sodium chloride (NaCl), common table salt. In the body, salt is dissolved and its elements exist in their ionic forms: Na+ and Cl-. In these forms, they aid it fluid balance and nerve function.

Answer: Not Healthy

Mercury is a pernicious poison and is easily absorbed through the respiratory tract, the digestive tract, or through unbroken skin. It's a cumulative poison and dangerous levels are readily attained in air.

Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at room temperatures. This property and the behavior of liquids made it a useful component in early thermometers. Caution had to be taken though if one of these broke, because the mercury would spill out and contaminate any other objects it came into contact with.