An official scientific definition of a heavy metal really doesn’t exist. However, most authorities suggest that a heavy metal is one that is dense and usually toxic at low concentrations. There are several kinds of metals found all over the world, and each one plays a vital role in our society.
Continue reading to learn which ones are deemed “heavy”, and how to safely recycle them.
Heavy Metal Composition
Metalloids are elements whose properties are midway between those of standard metals and solid non-metals. Lighter metals and metalloids are often considered heavy metals, primarily because of their mass, volume, and toxicity levels. This theory is contradicted when considering gold, since gold is non-toxic, but often deemed a heavy metal. In addition to toxicity and density, most heavy metals also retain a higher atomic number and atomic weight. They also tend to have a specific gravity greater than five.
Heavy metals can include a wide range of metals, such as basic metals, metalloids, transition metals, lanthanides (elements in the periodic table ranging from lanthanum to lutetium), and actinides(elements in the periodic table ranging from actinium to lawrencium). Examples of common metals that are toxic and have high density include lead, mercury, and bismuth.
Common Heavy Metals:
⚛ Bismuth
⚛ Cadmium
⚛ Chromium
⚛ Lead
⚛ Mercury
Less Common, But Sometimes Considered Heavy Metals Include:
⚛ Aluminum
⚛ Arsenic
⚛ Beryllium
⚛ Cobalt
⚛ Copper
⚛ Iron
⚛ Manganese
⚛ Zinc
People who consider heavy metals to be those with a density greater than 5 use this list:
- ⚛ Actinium
⚛ Americium
⚛ Arsenic
⚛ Astatine
⚛ Berkelium
⚛ Bohrium
⚛ Bismuth
⚛ Cadmium
⚛ Californium
⚛ Cerium
⚛ Chromium
⚛ Cobalt
⚛ Copernicium
⚛ Copper
⚛ Curium
⚛ Darmstadtium
⚛ Dysprosium
⚛ Dubnium
⚛ Elements 113-118
⚛ Einsteinium
⚛ Erbium
⚛ Europium
⚛ Fermium
⚛ Gadolinium
⚛ Gallium
⚛ Germanium
⚛ Gold
⚛ Hafnium
⚛ Hassium
⚛ Holmium
⚛ Indium
⚛ Iridium
⚛ Iron
⚛ Lanthanum
⚛ Lead
⚛ Lawrencium
⚛ Lutetium
⚛ Manganese
⚛ Mercury
-
⚛ Meitnerium
⚛ Molybdenum
⚛ Neodymium
⚛ Nickel
⚛ Niobium
⚛ Neptunium
⚛ Nobelium
⚛ Osmium
⚛ Palladium
⚛ Platinum
⚛ Polonium
⚛ Praseodymium
⚛ Protactinium
⚛ Promethium
⚛ Plutonium
⚛ Radium
⚛ Rutherfordium
⚛ Roentgenium
⚛ Ruthenium
⚛ Rhenium
⚛ Rhodium
⚛ Samarium
⚛ Seaborgium
⚛ Silver
⚛ Technetium
⚛ Titanium
⚛ Tin
⚛ Tellurium
⚛ Tantalum
⚛ Tungsten
⚛ Thallium
⚛ Terbium
⚛ Thorium
⚛ Thulium
⚛ Uranium
⚛ Vanadium
⚛ Ytterbium
⚛ Zinc
⚛ Zirconium