Arsenic poisoning is often an unintended consequence of sloppy gold, silver, and other mining operations, hitting people who rely on surface water sources and don’t have secondary alternatives. Here are some pics from the flip side of the products we have learned to love:
Arsenic, named by the Greeks and Latins for its yellowish color, has a wickedly high boiling point and looks like a steel gray, brittle semimetal. At least, when its in a chunk in the lab.
Arsenic poisoning, which seems totally archaic, distant, and unreal to a citizen of the 21st century, is still 100% real. Its commonly associated with old lace, soil, almonds, wood, and water, according to this info about arsenic. It seems that the quest for certain minerals (of which we’re all a driving force) have kept this old poison a contemporary threat. Just ask the folks from these pictures what they think about arsenic.
So, the next time you find yourself lusting after something made from gold, silver, or another “precious metal” most likely mined in some country where the environmental laws and cleanup regimens are slack (and people’s groundwater gets polluted with arsenic, causing afflictions like those above), remember the people’s hands in this photo!
Environmentalism means more than just reducing our carbon footprint - it means becoming aware of all our footprints and of the people and ecosystems our choices affect. We’ve only got one planet, and we’re slowly realizing how small, fragile, and complex Gaia really is.