Arsenic Facts
Arsenic Facts
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| Interesting Arsenic Facts: |
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| Arsenic has been in use since ancient times, specifically by Greek, Egyptian, and Chinese civilizations. |
| Arsenic's name has grown from Syriac, Perisan, to Greek, then ultimately to Latin. |
| It was used during the Bronze Age to strengthen the alloy. |
| Arsenic is still used to harden alloys, specifically lead and copper. |
| The first known person to isolate arsenic as an element was Albertus Magnus in 1250. |
| Arsenic has three common allotropes, gray, yellow, and black arsenic. |
| Gray arsenic is the most stable form. |
| Yellow arsenic is the most unstable and the most poisonous. |
| Arsenic has one stable isotope, As-75. |
| As many as thirty-three radioactive isotopes have also been produced. |
| The fumes from heated arsenic, which forms an oxidation of arsenic, smell like garlic. |
| Arsenic is readily absorbed by plants and farm produce from groundwater and soil, often leading to food poisoning. |
| Most of the arsenic mining operations globally have stopped for environmental reasons. |
| Arsenic is still produced as a byproduct of copper purification. |
| Arsenic's toxicity is actually beneficial in fighting fungus, bacteria, and insects in wood preservation. |
| It is used in vast pesticides for agriculture. |
| Arsenic is actually added to livestock feed to produce higher weight animals and to fight disease. |
| Arsenic has also been used as a component of World War I-era chemical weapons and in Agent Blue, a Vietnam Era herbicide. |
| Despite its toxicity, arsenic has a long history of being used for medicinal purposes, including as a skin bleaching agent, a cancer treatment, and an early syphilis cure. |
| In 2000, the FDA approved arsenic as a treatment for some forms of leukemia. |
| It has recently become an indicator in cancer-detecting PET scans as it is more readily readable than the common indicator iodine. |
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