Lead

Abbreviated as Pb, lead is a metal often utilized by the civil engineering sector in construction of buildings. It is in the form of impressionable soft metal and comes in the color of bluish when new. But when exposed to the air it transforms into grey and when this is melted into liquid is in the color of shiny silver. And lead is immensely strong against rust so its benefits are high in the construction field.

Health risks

Lead is a harmful substance which can cause serious health risks if not handled with care. The liquid if consumed can damage the nervous system and cause blood and brain disorder especially in children. Contaminated food or water with lead often results in such health risks and accidentally consuming contaminated soil, dust and lead paint may bring adverse results to health. Lead paint in the past has caused many impediments in people especially children if used in such labor related to this material.

Benefits civil engineering departments

Commonly lead is used in the manufacturing process of batteries, certain metal products such as solder and pipes because they are very effective against corrosion. Nowadays lead used in the gasoline, paints, and some of the ceramic products have been reduced in a larger difference to bring down the health issues. Metallic lead can be gained in the nature but these are seldom available. Presently these are extracted from the ores together with the zinc and copper and then later on these are separated. For most of the ores are said to possess somewhere closer to 10% of lead and these are exploited even if half this percentage is available.

Availability and the usage

This metal has been utilized by human beings now more than thousands of years. The reason perhaps is the widespread availability and the simplicity to work with them. It is one of the steady metals and hence its benefits for the civil engineering department are multiple because it has the highest atomic number of 82.  In addition, metallic lead is flexible and can be toughened with addition of antimony and calcium. And metallic lead is the result of heating and blazing furnace through the process some of the other contaminants like antimony, bismuth, zinc, gold and copper can be identified. As the use has increased worldwide the production and recycling also happen excessively to meet all these growing demands. But a recent study has found that lead is going to be available only for another 42 years.

Questions:

• What is Lead?
• List some of the benefits of lead?