Quote: Originally posted by Chemistry_Keegan | Quote: Originally posted by elementcollector1 | In many cases, such as arsenic, phosphorus and mercury, the safest form of the element is often the element itself. Keep in mind that safest is
defined relatively and not objectively. |
I can understand phosphorus, because red phosphorus really isn't all that harmful, but I never would have guessed that for arsenic and mercury? Is
there really no discovered chemical for them that is stable enough to not harmfully react with the human body? I would have though this would also
have been the case for lead, but then, as I mentioned, that is not really the case. One possible solution to this that comes to my mind is
coordination complexes, which often seem to form quite safe compounds, even with elements and groups that are normally dangerous. I suppose a good
example of this would be potassium ferricyanide, which takes an otherwise extremely dangerous group, being cyanide, and makes it virtually harmless.
I'm aware cyanide isn't an element, but you get the point. |
Actually, you're partially right, arsenic does have a safer form. It is a mineral named skutterudite, and the proposed formula suggests it is a type
of cobalt arsenide. However, I'm not sure if it counts as a compound, because the formula is variable and it is closer in structure to an alloy.
Mercury compounds, on the other hand, are far more dangerous than mercury itself. |