Silver element7/29/2023 Such by-products can enter the environment directly, from a factory pipe draining into water for example, or indirectly, through water or sewage treatment plants. Silver compounds can concentrate or accumulate to elevated levels in the environment in several ways: mixed with soil or water at hazardous waste sites as a by-product from the mining of copper, lead, zinc or gold ores or as a by-product from the production of photographic film. Silver and silver compounds released into the environment can travel long distances in air and water, including groundwater. Of the total silver released into the environment each year almost 4 percent enters the atmosphere, 28 percent enters aquatic environments, and 68 percent enters terrestrial ecosystems. The remaining 82 percent is released through human industry almost half of that amount is produced by the photographic industry. Natural processes account for about 18 percent of the estimated 2,430 tons of silver entering the environment each year. The natural process of rain and wind pounding repeatedly on silver-bearing rocks and soil also disperses silver into the environment. Where is Silver Found?Ĭoncentrated deposits of silver are found in ores along with other metals including lead, zinc, copper and gold in diverse regions of the world including Mexico, Peru, and the United States. Slag dumps in Asia Minor and the Aegean Sea islands show that our ancestors were mining silver over 5,000 years ago. Silver is a rare metal that has long been valued for its versatility. The fact that silver is otherwise impervious to the elements helps define it as a precious metal. (In the past 200 years, the amount of sulfur in the atmosphere has increased, so silver tarnishes more quickly than it did in pre-Industrial times.) Tarnish can easily be removed, however, and does not destroy the metal the way oxidation process known as rust destroys iron. Silver is stable in pure air and water, though it tarnishes quickly when exposed to air that contains elevated levels of ozone, hydrogen sulfide or sulfur. Pure silver has a bright metallic white-gray color silver nitrate and silver chloride are powdery white in color, while silver sulfide and silver oxide are dark gray to black. Silver is found in nature as an elemental metal in its metallic form and combined with other elements such as sulfide, chloride and nitrate. A lustrous, soft white metal, silver is one of the elements that make up the Earth.
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