Arsenic- Element of the Week from 1/18 -1/25

            Arsenic is element number 33, and a metalloid. It is found in minerals and alone as a pure crystal.  Albertus Magnus originally documented its existence in 1250, but it has been known of since the Early Bronze Age. Magnus, was also known as Albert the Great, and was the teacher of St. Thomas Aquinas. The element is most famously known for being exceedingly lethal in humans and other multicellular creatures.

            The name "Arsenic" comes from the Greek word "arsenikon," which means yellow orpiment. An orpiment is a mineral that contains sulfur and arsenic. Apparently, early Chinese, Greek, and Egyptian civilizations mined compounds containing arsenic.

            There are three common types of arsenic - one gray, one yellow, and one black. The gray allotrope is the most common of the three. Arsenic has one stable isotope and numerous radioactive isotopes.

             It can also be found in foods and soil, but is absorbed by all plant life. Arsenic in the groundwater is a very serious problem, and in bottled water in the United States it is allowed in concentrations between 10 and 5 ppb (parts per billion).

            Some common uses of arsenic are in agricultural insecticides, and it is still sometimes used in animal foods to prevent disease. Arsenic was common in medications prior to the 21st century - it was even used as a stimulant in the mid 1700s (though in subatomic doses). There are some modern medical uses of it - such as treatment of cancer.