Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 1997 Aug;26(1 Pt 2):S3-7.
doi: 10.1006/rtph.1997.1132.

Occurrences, uses, and properties of chromium

J Barnhart  1
Affiliations
Review

Occurrences, uses, and properties of chromium

J Barnhart. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 1997 Aug.

Abstract

Chromium is the 21st most abundant element in the Earth's crust with a mean concentration in United States soils of about 40 mg/kg. Although it exists in several oxidation states, the zero, trivalent, and hexavalent states are the most important in commercial products and the environment. Nearly all naturally occurring chromium is in the trivalent state, usually in combination with iron or other metal oxides. Although only about 15% of the chromium mined is used in the manufacture of chemicals, most applications of chromium utilize the chemistry of chromium. For instance, the "stainless" nature of stainless steel is due to the chemical properties of the chromium oxides which form on the surface of the alloy. Similarly, the protective properties of chrome plating of metals, chromated copper arsenate (CCA) treatment of wood, and chrome tanning of leather are all dependent on chromium chemistry. The key to these uses is that under typical environmental and biological conditions of pH and oxidation-reduction potential, the most stable form of chromium is the trivalent oxide. This form has very low solubility and low reactivity resulting in low mobility in the environment and low toxicity in living organisms. In this paper the chemical properties of chromium are discussed for the major commercial products in the context of the Eh-pH diagram for chromium.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

LinkOut - more resources