Environmental impact of plating….
Plating doesn’t really have a big ecological impact. However, some processes can generate fumes; wastewater and chemicals which can have a terrible impact on the environment. For example at an electroplating factory in Switzerland, they were using a refrigeration system to keep the sodium cyanide plating bath at a constant temperate, it contained a cooling coil, which began to corrode, the cyanide solution leaked into the refrigeration tank, causing it to pour out, which then flowed down its drains and pipes into the local treatment plant, in order to protect the treatment plant from contamination the flow coming from the factory had to be blocked off. As a result, the water poured directly into the nearby river, it contaminated 20km of the river killing 50,000 fish and river life.
Health impact
Electroplating has little risk to your health if it is performed correctly but if you are careless while using chemicals or machinery then it can cause a great deal of harm. The electroplating process uses some extremely lethal chemicals that can result in death. Preventing harm requires awareness of the toxic materials used in the process. Some of the hazards are from toxic chemicals and they can accidentally splash into your eye and acids which if they get onto your skin can cause serious burns and wounds. Fires are also a hazard since you work with chemicals which can cause explosions
Benefits of plating
Plating increases resistance to corrosion, so that objects can survive under harsh conditions and in harsh environments, such as industrial projects, military defense, and aviation. It can improve its adhesive properties, such as in aircraft manufacture. It can make an object look more attractive, by coating it in another metal or plastic. It increases wear ability. And it can give a plastic component the ability to conduct electricity.
Why people plate jewellery
People plate jewellery mostly to improve its desirability, and to make a cheap piece of jewellery that could be made from copper to look like an expensive piece of gold jewellery. It increases its value.
The history of plating
People have used plating for thousands of years. Artifacts from Peru show ancient societies coated ceremonial masks with gold. And many ancient Egyptian objects have been found that have been plated. They would beat out plates of gold, silver or their preferred metal into very thin sheets then fuse the sheets onto their object, however, an ancient statue of an Egyptian god dating from 400 B.C was found it was solid silver with a layer of gold so thin and smooth that they believe it could not have been applied by beating and fusing techniques.
Ancient electroplating techniques were also believed to be used in Iraq dating back to 250 B.C to 650 A.D, an ancient battery was found by a German archeologist near Bagdad, it is believed to be used for ancient electroplating, it’s dated back to between 250 B.C and 650 A.D. In 1970 they did experiments with the batteries and it proved that they can electroplate articles.
Ancient electroplating techniques were also believed to be used in Iraq dating back to 250 B.C to 650 A.D, an ancient battery was found by a German archeologist near Bagdad, it is believed to be used for ancient electroplating, it’s dated back to between 250 B.C and 650 A.D. In 1970 they did experiments with the batteries and it proved that they can electroplate articles.
