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Abstract

Heavy Metals and their OmnipresenceHeavy metals are naturally occurring on the earth's crust [1] which have eventually found their way into soil, air and water bodies due to erosion over the years. Heavy metals are usually defined on the basis of atomic number, atomic mass or density. When the atomic number of any metal is above 20, or the atomic mass is above 23 or the density is above 5g cm ` it is characterized as heavy metals. Out of the 118 elements that have been identified as earth's essential building blocks by scientists, there are around 99 elements that could be called heavy metals according to the above criteria. Some examples of heavy metals according to this parameter are gold, silver, platinum, copper, selenium, zinc, cobalt, iron, tin, lead, tungsten, gold, iridium, rhodium, and platinum. But beyond a certain concentration all elements, be it heavy or light may be toxic. But when an element is not harmful in smaller concentrations, we do not consider it toxic. What is interesting is that not even all heavy metals are toxic in nature at small concentrations. In fact, some of them are considered essential for various bodily functions, like selenium which works like an antioxidant and some heavy metals like gold, which are non-corrosive and non-reactive in nature are called "noble metals". Noble metals like gold, silver, platinum are not considered toxic heavy metals even though they fulfil the criteria of atomic number, atomic mass and density as mentioned above.There are many other heavy metals with positive effects on the human body. Like, copper aids in the transports of electrons and oxygen, cobalt aids in cellular metabolism [1] etc. But on the other hand, certain heavy metals that represent the "dark side of chemistry" are those that Crimson PublishersWings to the Research