Cobalt+-+Common+Uses

Cobalt - Uses

 * Alloyed with nickel, iron and others to make Alnico, a metal used in jet turbines.
 * Used to make highly magnetic steels and stainless steels.
 * Used in electroplating because of its hardness and resistance to oxidation.
 * Used for the production of blue colors in porcelain, glass, pottery, tiles, and enamels.
 * Cobalt-60: important cancer treatment agent, but also used for sterilizing medical supplies, medical waste and foods, as well as for radiography and density measurements.
 * Compounded to make paint pigments.
 * The compound cobalt(II) chloride, CoCl2, is used as a water indicator because normally it is blue, but when water is added to make CoCl2·6H2O, it turns a deep rose color.
 * Another compound, cobalt sulfate (CoSO4) is used in batteries and as a drying agent in paints and varnishes.



Dangers & Precautions

 * High exposure can have mutagenic and carcinogenic effects.
 * High exposure to gamma ray emissions from Co-60 can cause burns and even death.
 * Cobalt in powdered form is a dangerous fire hazard.
 * //Nuclear weapon designs could intentionally incorporate 59Co, some of which would be activated in a nuclear explosion to produce 60Co. The 60Co, dispersed as nuclear fallout, creates what is sometimes called a dirty bomb or cobalt bomb, once predicted by physicist Leó Szilárd as being capable of wiping out all life on earth.// - Wikipedia