# Heavy Metals Uses **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 22, 2002, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-metals-uses/129135 "2002-09-22T16:06:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sau\_chitnis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@sau\_chitnis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sau_chitnis)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2002, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-metals-uses/129135/1 "2002-09-22T16:06:53Z")
I was just wondering that there is so much talk about heavy metal pollution and how its gets into domestic water and all that…but what exactly are the uses of heavy metals in isdustrial and commercial life…sure they use Plutonium and Uranium isotopes for nuclear reactions but the question is that are there any uses of heavy metals in everyday life that can counter the fact that heavy metals such as mercury do find their way into water systems polluting our water sources. So what are they used for??? \Jedi Online\ \The first ever radioactive penguin\ ---
**Author:** ![sau\_chitnis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@sau\_chitnis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sau_chitnis)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2002, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-metals-uses/129135/2 "2002-09-22T16:08:16Z")
doh html didnt work! ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2002, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-metals-uses/129135/3 "2002-09-22T16:17:37Z")
Heavy Metal has been used for decades. Here are some potential uses. 1. Empowers otherwise socially marginalized young men to feel as though by emulating Heavy Metal lifestyles and iconography, they are elevating themselves socially. 2. Fashion and music rarely have been this tied together since the famous Vienne Riots of the 1700’s, when Mozart’s Powder My Fat Wig Tour kicked off a frenzy of young music lovers, clad in wigs. 3. The black eyeliner industry would be lost without Heavy Metal. 4. Many fine animators and in-betweeners in the early 1980’s got their start working on the ground-breaking film, Heavy Metal. 5. Chickens, doves, sparrows and other small birds never would have formed a Political Action Committee if it wasn’t for the truly accurate “geeking” of their kind during countless Heavy Metal performances. 6. Punk Rock never would have taken off. 7. We’d all be watching “The Nelsons” instead of “The Osbourne’s”. 😛 Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2002, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-metals-uses/129135/4 "2002-09-22T16:39:57Z")
Lead, mercury, cadmium, and nickel are used in batteries. Antimony is used in semiconductors, as is arsenic. A large portion of the mercury that is in the environment can be traced directly to coal power plant emissions. From a discussion which **hibernicus** and I had on my Board: > [@](#): > > As a result of the Information Collection Request (ICR) in the US, I can offer some more details here: > > (snipped because the SDMB doesn’t allow my nice HTML to show up) > > By raw figures, 75.2 tons of mercury per year are contained in the coal which is burned in the US. However - that does not mean that 75.2 tons/year of mercury is emitted. According to data from the EPA, EPRI, and UND-EERC, the actual emissions are somewhat lower. In 1994, the EPA estimated that actual emissions were about 51.3 tons (EPA Utility Hazardous Air Pollutant Report to Congress, 1997) In 1996, the EPA estimated that, based on looking more closely on how different emissions control mechanisms resulted in different levels of mercury emission, that this figure was closer to 45 tons/year. EPRI estimated 49 tons per year, before correcting for the impact of Cl in the coal. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2002, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-metals-uses/129135/5 "2002-09-22T16:50:34Z")
A starting point for you: [http://www.webelements.com](http://www.webelements.com) Each element has a “uses” section with it, for instance, mercury: > [@](#): > > Mercury is used in laboratories for making thermometers, barometers, diffusion pumps, and many other instruments. It is used for mercury switches and other electrical apparatus. It is used as an electrode in some types of electrolysis and for making batteries (mercury cells). > > Gaseous mercury is used in mercury-vapour lamps and advertising signs. Mercury is important in some types of industry, for instance for caustic soda and chlorine production. It is used for making some pesticides and antifouling paint. Mercury is also the basis of dental amalgams and preparations. You can look up lead, antimony, bismuth, etc, yourself. Lead (Pb) has a long list. Lead and mercury, in particular, have been known since antiquity and been used for a wide variety of purposes. Unfortunate, in a way, that they are so useful, since the cumalative toxicity is so problematical. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2002, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-metals-uses/129135/6 "2002-09-22T19:14:30Z")
Metals are often also used in catalytic functions, using them to help forward chemical reactions in various fields. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2002, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-metals-uses/129135/7 "2002-09-22T19:33:23Z")
Water pipes used to be made of lead, and lead used to be a key ingredient in paint. Lead pipes and lead-based paint have been off the market for decades, although you can still find them in some older houses. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-metals-uses/129135/8 "2002-09-23T12:43:22Z")
**mnemosyne** raised a good one. Just HOW are Catalytic Converters disposed of? They have platinum pellets in them. Are they recycled 100%, or is the platinum disposed of separately? Millions of cars, millions of pounds right there, no? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-metals-uses/129135/9 "2002-09-23T13:23:58Z")
Yes, catalytic converters can be [recycled](http://euro.recycle.net/a/view/0140.html)