Oh man if I had a nickel for every source of nickel
Pure nickel is a hard, silvery-white metal, which has properties that make it very desirable for combining with other metals to form mixtures called alloys. Iron, copper, chromium, and zinc are some of the metals nickel can be combined with.
Although nickel combined with other elements occurs naturally in the earth’s crust, it is also released into the environment from stacks of large furnaces used to make alloys or from power plants and trash incinerators. The nickel that is released into the environment can attach to small particles of dust that settle to the ground. Depending on the size of the particle it can take as long as a month before the nickel is removed from the air.
Nickel can also be found in soil, ground water and food but because nickel strongly attaches to dust and soil particles or embeds themselves in minerals and is not easily taken up by plants and animals, people are at minimal risk of exposure. Food is the major source of nickel exposure for the general public. People working in the nickel industry may be exposed to higher levels of nickel than the general public. Allergic reaction is the most common health effect of nickel exposure.
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