Copper
Copper is one of the most important metals. Copper is reddish with a bright
metallic lustre. It is malleable, ductile, and a good conductor
of heat and electricity (second only to silver in electrical conductivity).
Its alloys, brass and bronze, are very important. Monel and gun
metals also contain copper. Apparently the reason that policemen
in the USA are nicknamed "cops" or "coppers" is to do with their
uniforms which used to have copper buttons. The most important compounds
are the oxide and the sulphate, (blue vitriol).
In addition to their many uses in agriculture and biology, copper
salts have an astonishing variety of industrial uses, chiefly of
a specialised nature, and there is hardly an industry which does
not have some small use for them. The following pages briefly describe
a few of the more important copper compounds and list some of their
uses with particular reference to copper sulphate.
Copper and its compounds are not toxic like some other metals, such
as lead or mercury. There are no records of any occupational diseases
attributable to copper among people who have worked for many years
with the metal or its salts. Indeed it has sometimes been said that
such people often appear healthier and generally suffer less from
colds and other ailments. Copper bangles and other adornments are
reputed to relieve and prevent rheumatic pains. Copper water storage
vessels, copper kettles and copper cooking pans have been used for
generations.
Copper is a metal used as an alloy in brass and bronze, as a component
in some solders, in pigments such as emerald green, and as a salt
in the lithographic process.The salts are irritants to the skin,
eyes,and mucous membranes.The inhalation of metal fumes produced
at high temperature, such as welding, may cause metal fume fever,
nasal ulcers, and respiratory irritation.Ingestion of copper salts
may cause vomiting, diarrhea, hemorragic diarrhea, and excessive
salivation.The chronic accumulation of copper in the body is rare
and occurs in the progressive and sometimes fatal autosomal recessive
condition called Wilson's disease(hepatolenticular degeneration)
more pyrotechnical
information
|
