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Arsenic [As] locate me
CAS-ID: 7440-38-2
An: 33 N: 42
Am: 74.92160 (2) g/mol
Group No: 15
Group Name: Pnictogen
Block: p-block  Period: 4
State: solid at 298 K
Colour: metallic grey Classification: Semi-metallic
Boiling Point: 887K (614°C)
Melting Point: 1090K (817°C)
Critical temperature: 1700K (1427°C)
Density: 5.727g/cm3
Discovery Information
Who: Albertus Magnus
When: 1250
Where: Unknown
Name Origin
Greek: arsenikos (male); Latin: arsenicum.
 "Arsenic" in different languages.
Sources
Arsenopyrite, also unofficially called mispickel, (FeAsS) is the most common arsenic-bearing mineral. On roasting in air, the arsenic sublimes as arsenic (III) oxide leaving iron oxides.
Abundance
 Universe: 0.008 ppm (by weight)
 Carbonaceous meteorite: 1.8 ppm
 Earth's Crust: 1.5 ppm
 Seawater:
   Atlantic surface: 1.45 x 10-3 ppm
   Atlantic deep: 1.53 x 10-3 ppm
   Pacific surface: 1.45 x 10-3 ppm
   Pacific deep: 1.75 x 10-3 ppm
 Human:
   50 ppb by weight
   4 ppb by atoms
Uses
Used as a deadly poison (in various agricultural insectisides and poisions), in shotgun pellets, metal for mirrors, glass, lasers. Gallium Arsenide is an important semiconductor used in integrated circuits and light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
History
Arsenic has been known and used in Persia and elsewhere since ancient times. As the symptoms of arsenic poisoning were somewhat ill-defined, it was frequently used for murder until the advent of the Marsh test, a sensitive chemical test for its presence.
Due to its use by the ruling class to murder one another and its potency and discreetness, arsenic has been called the Poison of Kings and the King of Poisons.
During the Bronze Age, arsenic was often included in bronze, which made the alloy harder (so-called "arsenical bronze").
Albertus Magnus (Albert the Great, 1193-1280) is believed to have been the first to isolate the element in 1250. In 1649 Johann Schroder published two ways of preparing arsenic.
Notes
In the Victorian era, 'arsenic' (colourless, crystalline, soluble 'white arsenic') was mixed with vinegar and chalk and eaten by women to improve the complexion of their faces, making their skin paler to show they did not work in the fields. Arsenic was also rubbed into the faces and arms of women to 'improve their complexion'. The accidental use of arsenic in the adulteration of foodstuffs led to the Bradford sweet poisoning in 1858, which resulted in approximately 20 deaths and 200 people taken ill with arsenic poisoning.
Hazards
Very toxic. Arsenic is a carcinogen, associated with lung cancer when inhaled. Contact with skin can result in skin cancer. Also damage to intestines and liver. Toxic when ingested. May cause reproductive disorders. It is found in pesticides and wood preservatives.
Harmful in the environment, very toxic to aquatic organisms. May cause long term damage.