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 | What is Hydrogen Sulfide?
 | A colorless, flammable poisonous gas, H2S, having a
characteristic rotten-egg odor and used as an antiseptic, a bleach, and a
reagent. |
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| What is Chlorine?
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Chlorine is a greenish-yellow, poisonous gas
with a disagreeable, suffocating odor. Chlorine is soluble in water; chlorine water has
strong oxidizing properties. Chlorine is used in water purification, and as a disinfectant
and antiseptic. Chlorinated hydrocarbons (e.g., DDT) are long-lasting pesticides
and have become troublesome environmental pollutants. Many poison gases contain chlorine. |
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| What is Lead?
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Lead is silver-blue, dense, relatively soft,
and malleable, with low tensile strength. Lead compounds (all poisonous) include
tetraethyl lead (a gasoline antiknock additive now used mainly in developing countries)
and oxides used in mordants and pigments. Continued exposure to lead—through
inhalation of fumes or sprays and ingestion of food containing lead —can
result in a cumulative chronic disease called lead poisoning. It was once a
serious occupational hazard, but protective equipment and other precautionary measures
have reduced its incidence. Lead poisoning remains a serious problem in children, who are
more susceptible to it. Causes may include ingestion of paint chips from peeling walls or
pipes or inhalation of contaminated dust during home renovation. |
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| What is Cadmium?
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Cadmium is a silver-white, lustrous,
malleable, ductile metal. Its major use is as an electroplated coating on iron and steel
to prevent corrosion; it is also used in nickel-cadmium batteries. |
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| What is Radon?
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Radon is a gaseous radioactive element,
discovered by Ernest Rutherford in 1899. A colorless, chemically unreactive inert gas, it
is the densest gas known. Highly radioactive (emitting alpha rays), it is used chiefly in
the treatment of cancer by radiotherapy. In homes and other buildings in some
areas of the U.S., radon produced by the radioactive decay of uranium-238 present in soil
and rock can reach levels regarded as dangerous, but the seriousness of the
problem is unclear. |
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| What is Mercury?
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Mercury or quicksilver is a metallic element,
known to the ancient Chinese, Hindus, and Egyptians. Silver-white and mirrorlike, it is
the only common metal existing as a liquid at ordinary temperatures. Mercury is used in
barometers, thermometers, electric switches, mercury-vapor lamps, and certain batteries; a
mercury alloy, called an amalgam, is employed in dentistry. Mercury compounds have
been used as insecticides, in rat poisons, and as disinfectants. Not easily discharged
from the body, the metal is a cumulative poison; its ingestion in more than trace amounts
in contaminated food or its absorption by the skin or mucous membranes results in mercury
poisoning, which can cause skin disorders, hemorrhage, liver and kidney damage, and
gastrointestinal disturbances. Workers in many industries have been affected, and
mercury pollution of rivers, lakes, and oceans, usually through the discharge of
industrial wastes, has become a serious environmental problem. Most mercury pesticides
have been withdrawn from the U.S. market, and in 1972 more than 90 nations approved an
international ban on the dumping of mercury in the ocean, where the metal has tended to
work its way into the food cycle of aquatic life and to reach dangerous levels in certain
food fish. |
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| What is Asbestos?
| Asbestos is a common name for any of a group
of fibrous silicate minerals resistant to acid and fire. Asbestos usually occurs as veins
in rocks and seems to be a product of metamorphism. Chrysotile asbestos (H4Mg3Si2O9), a
form of serpentine, the most important commercial asbestos, has curly fibers. Amphibole,
the other main type, has needlelike fibers. Asbestos is produced chiefly in Canada;
asbestos products include brake and clutch linings, water pipe, and roofing materials. Studies
have shown that amphibole asbestos particles in the air can cause lung cancer and the lung
disease asbestosis, and many former and all new uses of asbestos in the U.S. have been
banned. |
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| What is Phenol?
| A caustic, poisonous, white crystalline compound, C6H5OH, derived
from benzene and used in resins, plastics, and pharmaceuticals and in dilute form
as a disinfectant and antiseptic. Also called carbolic acid. |
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| What is Benzene?
| Benzene is a (C6H6), colorless, flammable toxic liquid with
a strong odor. A hydrocarbon, benzene is the parent substance of the aromatic compounds.
It consists of an unusually stable hexagonal ring of six carbon atoms, each of which is
bonded to a hydrogen atom. Derivative compounds include phenol and aniline. Obtained from
coal tar and petroleum, benzene and its derivatives are used in making dyes, drugs, and
plastics. Benzene has been identified as a carcinogen. |
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| What is a Hydrocarbon?
| A hydrocarbon is any organic compound composed solely of
carbon and hydrogen. Hydrocarbons include aliphatic compounds, in which the carbon atoms
form a chain, and aromatic compounds, in which the carbon atoms form stable rings. The
aliphatic group is divided into alkanes (e.g., methane and propane), alkenes, and alkynes
(e.g., acetylene), depending on whether the molecules of the compounds contain,
respectively, only single bonds, one or more carbon-carbon double bonds, or one or more
carbon-carbon triple bonds. Petroleum distillation yields useful fractions that are
hydrocarbon mixtures, e.g., natural gas, gasoline, kerosene, home heating oil, lubricating
oils, paraffin, and asphalt. Coal tar is also a source of hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbon
derivatives contain additional elements, e.g., oxygen, and include alcohols, aldehydes,
ketones, carboxylic acids, and halocarbons. |
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| What is a Aromatic Compound?
| An aromatic compound is any of a large class of organic
compounds including benzene and compounds that resemble benzene in chemical properties.
Aromatic compounds contain unusually stable ring structures, often made up of six carbon
atoms arranged hexagonally. Some of the compounds, however, have rings with more or fewer
atoms, not necessarily all carbon. Furan, for example, has a ring with four atoms of
carbon and one of oxygen. Also, two or more rings can be fused, as in naphthalene. The
characteristic properties of the class, notably the stability of the compounds, derive
from the fact that aromatic rings permit the sharing of some electrons by all the atoms of
the ring, which increases the strength of the bonds. |
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| What is a Carcinogen?
| A carcinogen is any agent that causes cancer in animal
tissue. Ubiquitous indoors and out, in the workplace and at home, carcinogens can be
inorganic, such as asbestos and arsenic, or organic, such as certain molds and viruses.
Others include various types of radiation, such as ultraviolet and X rays.
Carcinogens can be inhaled (radon and tobacco smoke), ingested (nitrites),
or absorbed through the skin (DDT and other pesticides). Using a procedure called the Ames
test, potential carcinogens can be tested for their propensity to damage DNA and cause
mutations. It has been predicted that 30% of Americans will die of cancer caused
in part by environmental carcinogens before they reach the age of 74. |
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| What is DDT?
| DDT is a colorless contact insecticide, C14H9Cl5,
toxic to human beings and animals when swallowed or absorbed through the skin. It has been
banned in the United States for most uses since 1972. |
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All definitions are from The Microsoft Bookshelf, 1996-1997
Edition.
Biology | Chemistry | Medicine | La Natural | Sports Bottle
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