Cobalt+(Silver+Class)

toc Michael Doyle, Science Leadership Academy 2008

=Abstract of Cobalt=

Cobalt is made into a concentrate, then undergoes pressure oxidation leaching or bioleaching, then purified by precipitation, ion exchange, electrowinning to produce cobalt cathode. Crude copper sulfide, nickel-cobalt carbonate, and a gold-bearing pyrite concentrate are produced as byproducts of the refining of cobalt. Everyone would be affected if this chemical were to be banned. The government, industry, and the public would all be impacted because cobalt is used in a variety of product fields. A common and easily used alternative to cobalt is lead. Lead is a cheap chemical, but has many consequences than cobalt. We would still have many if not all of the products that cobalt is used in, but it would be much more expensive and more difficult to make these products. America has recently been exporting its excess cobalt since 1998. Bangladesh and other poorer countries use lead in gasoline. As an average American, I would be affected by a ban on cobalt because it is in so many of our everyday products. The electronics that I use everyday all contain cobalt. The jewelry that I wear contains small amounts of cobalt and either has the byproducts of cobalt or has products formed by the byproducts of cobalt. If the U.S. were to be ban cobalt, then there would be many complications in the trading of cobalt worldwide. The U.S. purchases wrought cobalt and cobalt articles from 7 countries and then distributes it back out to another 8 countries. So with the U.S. banning cobalt, a total of 16 economies would be impacted for a negative. The potential dangers of Cobalt are occupational asthma and while combined with other chemicals (such as tungsten carbine), dangers range from alveolitis to pulmonary fibrosis. Cobalt stimulates erythropoietin production, which possibly may be the reason why it was used to treat amenia. Cobalt also constitutes to 4% of the weight of vitamin B-12. Mainly, the respiratory system is the only process affected by cobalt in the body. Although there is some belief that cobalt may carcinogenic in humans, although there is no definite evidence. The respiratory system is the only system in the human body affected by cobalt. Cobalt is commonly found and interacted with during mining and is now a common chemical in many everyday products (fertilizers, airplane gas turbines, paint (used as a drying solution), kitchenware, and inks). Cobalt is a natural and safe chemical that does not seem to noticeably affect the environment. Cobalt usually has a half-life between 1-2 years and when it degrades, cobalt releases Cobalt Oxide. Cobalt is usually recycled and placed back into metal-alloys and other products. My stand on cobalt is that companies should use cobalt more than it already does. I believe this because it is a much better alternative then other dangerous chemicals such as lead. Cobalt is not expensive enough to make a detrimental impact on the economy and can be used in many ways and areas. Cobalt is used to produce many other chemicals and metals and can be found in many of our everyday products. And so far, there haven’t been proof that cobalt is dangerous to humans, although we might want to be weary of it somewhat seeing as it theoretically causes asthma in some people.

= = =Summary of Cobalt=

Cobalt is made into a concentrate, then undergoes pressure oxidation leaching or bioleaching, then purified by precipitation, ion exchange, electrowinning to produce cobalt cathode. Crude copper sulfide, nickel-cobalt carbonate, and a gold-bearing pyrite concentrate are produced as byproducts of the refining of cobalt. Everyone would be affected if this chemical were to be banned. The government, industry, and the public would all be impacted because cobalt is used in a variety of product fields. A common and easily used alternative to cobalt is lead. Lead is a cheap chemical, but has many consequences than cobalt. We would still have many if not all of the products that cobalt is used in, but it would be much more expensive and more difficult to make these products. America has recently been exporting its excess cobalt since 1998. Bangladesh and other poorer countries use lead in gasoline. As an average American, I would be affected by a ban on cobalt because it is in so many of our everyday products. The electronics that I use everyday all contain cobalt. The jewelry that I wear contains small amounts of cobalt and either has the byproducts of cobalt or has products formed by the byproducts of cobalt. If the U.S. were to be ban cobalt, then there would be many complications in the trading of cobalt worldwide. The U.S. purchases wrought cobalt and cobalt articles from 7 countries and then distributes it back out to another 8 countries. So with the U.S. banning cobalt, a total of 16 economies would be impacted for a negative.

=Cobalt Synthesis/Production=

Cobalt is made into a concentrate, then undergoes pressure oxidation leaching or bioleaching, then purified by precipitation, ion exchange, electrowinning to produce cobalt cathode. Crude copper sulfide, nickel-cobalt carbonate, and a gold-bearing pyrite concentrate are produced as byproducts of the refining of cobalt. Everyone would be affected if this chemical were to be banned. The government, industry, and the public would all be impacted because cobalt is used in a variety of product fields. A common and easily used alternative to cobalt is lead. Lead is a cheap chemical, but has many consequences than cobalt. We would still have many if not all of the products that cobalt is used in, but it would be much more expensive and more difficult to make these products. America has recently been exporting its excess cobalt since 1998. Bangladesh and other poorer countries use lead in gasoline. As an average American, I would be affected by a ban on cobalt because it is in so many of our everyday products. The electronics that I use everyday all contain cobalt. The jewelry that I wear contains small amounts of cobalt and either has the byproducts of cobalt or has products formed by the byproducts of cobalt. If the U.S. were to be ban cobalt, then there would be many complications in the trading of cobalt worldwide. The U.S. purchases wrought cobalt and cobalt articles from 7 countries and then distributes it back out to another 8 countries. So with the U.S. banning cobalt, a total of 16 economies would be impacted for a negative.

=PSA= media type="custom" key="635449" Video created by Michael Doyle, Junaid Bin-Mukhtar, Mithun Das 27-Mar-08