Impact
Nickel has a huge impact on the world. Nickel is mostly found in Russia as an ore. Some other places that nickel are found are Canada, France, Australia, Indonesia, and Cuba. Nickel is never found in nature as a pure element. It is mined as an ore and usually found with iron, but after that the nickel must be separated from the iron and other things in the ore. The most common way of separating the nickel from the iron and ore is smelting the ore with chemicals. Sometime is the ore is heated at a very extreme temperature then there is no need to use chemicals because the nickel separates itself. Mining for nickel itself does not have a huge effect on the environment. There is pollution from mining the nickel from the mine, but usually the mines are in pits or underground. The most environmental effect comes from smelting the nickel in factories and tons of pollution occurs when this smelting occurs. Some affects that nickel has had on humans is that nickel is very skin sensitive. 20% percent of people are super-sensitive to nickel and all should avoid contact with pure nickel. Some jewelry contains nickel and that should also be avoided. Workers/Miners who have breathed very large amounts of nickel compounds have been know to develop nasal and lung cancer. Also, nickel carbonyl is a very toxic gas.
Nickel is a fairly sustainable metal. There is not a ton of it in the Earth's surface, but nickel is often recycled and used for many things. For example, nickel is used in rechargeable batteries. Also, scientists are led to believe that there is tons of nickel under the Earth's outer-crust, so when technology/science permits us to dig down into the Earth's core we will have an almost unlimited supply of nickel.
Nickel is a fairly sustainable metal. There is not a ton of it in the Earth's surface, but nickel is often recycled and used for many things. For example, nickel is used in rechargeable batteries. Also, scientists are led to believe that there is tons of nickel under the Earth's outer-crust, so when technology/science permits us to dig down into the Earth's core we will have an almost unlimited supply of nickel.