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Bismuth is a silvery-white metallic element with a pinkish tint on freshly-broken surfaces. Bismuth is relatively brittle for a metal. It has the interesting physical property of expanding when freezing to a solid.
Bismuth metal is relatively inert and non-toxic. It has replaced lead in many applications such as plumbing, bullets, birdshot, metal alloys, soldering, and other applications. Some uses for Bismuth are: Used as a mild stabiliser in malleable iron or to improve nodule count in S.G. iron, and some of its other uses include: Fishing weights, Shot gun cartridges, For additions to glass, For additions to the galvanising process, and the replacement of Lead in some solders and Brass alloys, and the production of low melting point alloys which all have there own individual uses.
Quite interestingly for a heavy metal, Bismuth is scientifically recognized as one of the safest elements. It is also non-carcinogenic. Accordingly, a growing number of industrial applications depend upon it to alleviate specific toxicity or environmental problems
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