27 ELEMENTS ARE RELEASED FROM THE MUZZLE BLAST OF A FIREARM.

Here is information on how overexposure to some of these elements can be toxic,
and also their common uses.

• Aluminum (Al): No proven issues; ingestion may cause Alzheimer’s disease. Of all metals, only iron is more widely used than aluminum.
• Arsenic (As): Arsenic is immediately dangerous to life and health at very low levels. It is easily absorbed and carcinogenic (cancer causing) with high toxicity. As a result of its toxicity, arsenic compounds are used in wood preservation (sprayed on trees to detour animals, rodents, or insects from eating) and insecticides. Less than 2% is used in lead alloys for ammunition.
• Antimony (Sb): Stibnite could be used as a medicine but heating its ore actually produces the element antimony. Similar to lead; toxicity of antimony and its compounds varies according to the chemical state of the element. Many of the salts are carcinogenic; exposure to 9 milligrams per cubic meter of air (mg/m³) of antimony as stibnite for a long time can irritate your eyes, skin and lungs; breathing 2mg/m³ of antimony for a long time can cause problems w/ lungs, heart, stomach pain, diarrhea, vomiting and stomach ulcers. People who drank over 19ppm of antimony in one sitting vomited. Its common uses are in bullets, paint, batteries, pottery, glass and cable sheathing.
• Bismuth (Bi): Bismuth is non-toxic. It’s used as a replacement for lead in shot and bullets.
• Boron (B): Boron is non-toxic. Metallic boron is very hard; boron carbide is used in bullet proof vests and tank armor.
• Calcium (Ca): Calcium is non-toxic and an essential metal for living organisms. It forms alloys with aluminum, beryllium, copper, magnesium and lead.
• Copper (Cu): Copper is an essential element to all plants and animals; however like with most things, too much is toxic. Copper is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity (only silver has higher conductivity rate than copper). Being such a good conductor of heat, we use copper bottom cooking pots but it’s important for the inside to be lined. Acidic foods cooked on copper would surely cause toxicity.
• Chromium (Cr): Chromium metal is an essential trace element, but chromium compounds are very toxic and recognized as a human carcinogenic via inhalation. Used in stainless steel and other alloys, the metal is commonly used for plating to produce a shiny, hard surface that is resistant to corrosion.
• Cadmium (Cd): Cadmium is an excellent electrical conductor with good resistance to corrosion but it has a high toxicity. We commonly use it in batteries (especially the rechargeable NiCad) and for electroplating. Cadmium and Tellurium can be compounded for solar cell production (harvesting solar energy).
• Chlorine (Cl): Chlorine in liquid form will burn the skin, but as a gas acts as an irritant for the respiratory and other mucus membranes. Humans can smell as little amount as 3.5 ppm making it easily detectable, however a few breaths at a concentrated level of 1000 ppm is usually fatal. We use chlorine in many everyday products including disinfectant of drinking water and insecticides. Also used in the production of medicine, food, textiles, paper products and the list goes on.
• Iron (Fe): Iron is considered to be non-toxic and is believed to have first come from meteorites. Adding carbon to iron to make steel was probably accidental at first. It’s a relatively soft metal, as well as ductile, gray and a moderately good conductor of heat and electricity.
• Lead (Pb): Lead and its compounds are a cumulative toxins; resistant to corrosion but a poor conductor of electricity. It is commonly used in cable coverings, ammunition, electrodes, storage batteries, solder and roofing materials. The metal is a shielding from radiation in X-Ray Rooms and Nuclear Reactors, and Lead Oxide for the manufacture of fine crystal glass.
• Mercury (Hg): Mercury and most of its compounds are highly toxic. Most commonly described as liquid silver, the pure metal is absorbed easily by inhalation, ingestion, or thru skin. It is a chronic pollutant and concentrates in animal/fish tissues in increasing amounts up the food chain.
• Manganese (Mn): Manganese is essential for photosynthesis; there would be no free oxygen on earth without it. Our bodies contain tiny amounts of manganese (10-20mg). If you cut a dime into 100 equal pieces, each piece would weigh more than the weight of manganese in the human body. Our bodies cannot store manganese so it has to be topped up frequently. Excess manganese, particularly inhalation of the powder/dust is toxic and may cause a medical condition similar to Parkinson’s disease.
• Nickel (Ni): Nickel and its compounds are considered to be carcinogenic. Approximately 10 to 20 percent of people are sensitive to nickel. Such people should avoid contact with nickel, which can be found in jewelry. Repeated contact with it leads to skin complaints (dermatitis). Workers who have breathed very large amounts of nickel compounds have developed chronic bronchitis, lung and nasal cancers. Nickel carbonyl is a very toxic gas. Nickel steel is used for burglar-proof vaults and armor plate.
• Phosphorus (P): White phosphorus is highly toxic; used in pyrotechnics and incendiary shells, skin contact can result in severe burns. Red phosphorus (provided it is not contaminated with white phosphorus) is considered non-toxic and used for safety matches.
• Potassium (K): In healthy people with normal kidney function, potassium intake from food does not seem to pose potential for increased risk because excess is readily excreted in the urine. Elemental potassium is highly reactive and must be handled with extreme care. Potassium Nitrate is the main explosive ingredient in gunpowder.
• Selenium (Se): Selenium may be used in dandruff-control shampoo, but many of selenium’s compounds such as selenates and selenites are highly toxic. Hydrogen selenide gas is selenium’s most acutely toxic compound although other compounds are highly poisonous also resembling arsenic in their physiological reactions. It also exhibits photovoltaic action, where light is converted directly into electricity and photoconductive action, where electrical resistance decreases with increased illumination.
• Silicon (Si): Silicon is not known to be toxic however if breathed in as a fine silica/silicate dust, it may cause chronic respiratory problems. Silicates such as asbestos are carcinogenic. Silicones range from liquids to hard solids and have many useful properties including use as adhesives, sealants and insulators.
• Sodium (Na): Sodium is considered to be non-toxic however; contact with skin may cause irritation and burns.
• Sulfur (S): Elemental sulfur is considered to be of low toxicity; compounds such as carbon disulfide, hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide are toxic. For example, at .03ppm (parts per million), we can smell hydrogen sulfide but it is regarded as safe for up to 8 hours of exposure. At 4ppm, eye irritation…20ppm for more than a minute, severe injury to eye nerves. 700ppm, breathing stops resulting in death or brain damage. The “rotten egg” smell of sulfur gas is commonly used for stink bombs. Sulfur is also found in meteorites and native in proximity to hot springs and volcanoes.
• Silver (Ag): Silver has the highest electrical and thermal conductivity rate of all the metals. Typically considered non-toxic however most silver salts are considered poisonous and some may be carcinogenic.
• Tin (Sn): Tin is considered non-toxic but most tin salts are in fact toxic. Tin is used as a surface coating of other metals to prevent them from corrosion, for example, tin cans are made of tin coated steel
• Thallium (Ti): Thallium and its compounds are highly toxic. 1920-1972 thallium sulfate was widely used as rat poison and insecticide; its use has been discontinued in some countries including the U.S.A.; odorless and colorless it was killing unintended victims including humans and bald eagles. The average lethal dose is 10-15mg per kg of body weight. In appearance it resembles lead and can be cut with a knife.
• Tellurium (Te): Very toxic and teratogenic (can cause harm to developing embryos). Exposure to as little as .01mg/m ² or less in air leads to “tellurium breath” which has a garlic like odor. Tellurium is added at very low levels to lead to decrease corrosive action of sulfuric acid in batteries and to improve the leads strength and hardness.
• Titanium (Ti): Titanium metal is considered to be non-toxic. As metal shavings, or powder, it is a considerable fire hazard. Titanium chlorides are corrosive. Pure titanium is a light, silvery-white, hard, lustrous metal. It has excellent strength and corrosion resistance and also has a high strength to weight ratio. Alloys of titanium are mainly used in aerospace, aircraft and engines where strong, lightweight, temperature-resistant materials are needed.
• Zinc (Zn): Zinc is not considered to be particularly toxic, actually essential for good health. Excess would be toxic and cause nausea.