Today, I got to teach two grad students the Art of Distrusting Beryllium & Prior Workers. As people who is responsible for bad things, they need to develop both respect and Suspicious Bastard skills.
Honestly, I didn't know until today that beryllium was so toxic. I figured because of its position on the periodic table that it was probably fine.
I learned the same thing that two grad students did today, it seems.
Boron is right next to carbon, it must be fine too…
This is an important lesson that position on the table gives you some general idea as to chemical behavior. Toxicity is something else.
Being close to but not quite something your body needs can be WHY something is toxic. Some of the toxicity of lead is because it chemically mimics calcium, I think.
