Hi Sol,
 
It is my understanding that the atomic weight is used to define metal
weight. 
 
JOH

-----Original Message-----
From: sol [mailto:[email protected]] 
Sent: Sunday, December 07, 2003 11:59 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: CS>silver-heavy metal


  I have read many times here that silver is NOT a heavy metal, but
researching for another reason I ran across this link that specifically
lists silver as a "heavy metal", though it does not list silver as one of
the "commonly found" toxic metals. So is silver a heavy metal or not?
Anybody know its specific gravity?
  I am not about to give up my CS, but would like to be accurate when
conversing with people who say silver is a heavy metal. I don't want to say
is is not, if in fact it is............
paula
http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-156.shtml#intro
 
There are 35 metals that concern us because of occupational or residential
exposure; 23 of these are the heavy elements or "heavy metals": antimony,
arsenic, bismuth, cadmium, cerium, chromium, cobalt, copper, gallium, gold,
iron, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, platinum, silver, tellurium,
thallium, tin, uranium, vanadium, and zinc (Glanze 1996).........
Definition of a Heavy Metal
"Heavy metals" are chemical elements with a specific gravity that is at
least 5 times the specific gravity of water. The specific gravity of water
is 1 at 4°C (39°F). Simply stated, specific gravity is a measure of density
of a given amount of a solid substance when it is compared to an equal
amount of water. Some well-known toxic metallic elements with a specific
gravity that is 5 or more times that of water are arsenic, 5.7; cadmium,
8.65; iron, 7.9; lead, 11.34; and mercury, 13.546 (Lide 1992).
Commonly Encountered Toxic Heavy MetALS 

*       Arsenic <http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-156.shtml#arsen>  

*       Lead <http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-156.shtml#lead>  

*       Mercury <http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-156.shtml#merc>  

*       Cadmium <http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-156.shtml#cad>  

*       Iron <http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-156.shtml#iron>  

*       Aluminum <http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-156.shtml#alum>