The Importance of Zinc - Essay Example

Response Though the importance of Zn for cellular functions cannot be overemphasized, a high concentration of Zn makes it a potential pollutant in the river. Zn in high concentration is capable of binding to unwanted enzymes and proteins and replacing other metals, thus causing the enzymes and proteins to be deactivated. To provide the plants with appropriate conditions to survive, it is imperative that a very controlled homeostatic network is created that comprises trafficking, export, import, and sequestration (Olsen and Palgram, 2014).

Factors that contribute to the increase in the amount of Zn in the rivers include but are not limited to such human activities as industrial and urban sewages, runoffs, and atmospheric sediments. More than anywhere else, the presence of such elements as Zn in excess in the river water is more dangerous since it reaches the livestock and humans directly or indirectly. A great variation in the behavior of Zn is also evident from the fact that while it is brittle at low temperatures, Zn becomes quite ductile and malleable at temperatures reaching anywhere between 110 and 115C.

Just as it changes in its physical properties with temperature, Zn changes in terms of its effects on the environment when it gets in excess. This is a wonderful and very informative essay about the effects of Zn on the environment which is often considered as an element that cannot affect the environment in harmful ways. This is an important issue and needs to be explored and studied in detail in order for all the confusion and misconceptions surrounding it to be eradicated.