Lead carbonate, normal

Description

A grayish-white, crystalline mineral called Cerussite that is one of the primary types of [[lead] ore. Cerussite is mined in Australia, Europe, and the U.S.(Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Idaho). Cerussite can be formed by the action of ground Water on Galena (Lead sulfide) ore. Although basic lead carbonate has been used as a white pigment since ancient times, it was made synthetically and not obtained from the naturally occurring cerussite ore. In fact, cerussite has rarely been used as a white pigment although it is occasionally found as an impurity in basic lead carbonate (Gettens, Kuhn and Chase 1993).

Synonyms and Related Terms

cerussite; blanco de plomo, albayalde (Esp.); carbonate de plomb (Fr.); Bleicarbonat (Deut.); Cerrusit (Deut.); loodcarbonaat (Ned.)

Risks

• Toxic by inhalation or ingestion.
• Skin contact may cause irritation or ulcers.
• Carcinogen, teratogen, suspected mutagen.
• Fisher Scientific: MSDS

Physical and Chemical Properties

• Effervesces in nitric acid.
• Insoluble in water and ethanol.
• Turns black in the presence of sulfur fumes.
• Fluoresces yellow to golden color.
• High birefringence.
• Interference colors are third order or greater.
• Complete extinction.

Composition	PbCO3
CAS	598-63-0
Mohs Hardness	3.0 - 3.5
Density	6.55 g/ml
Refractive Index	1.803; 2.074; 2.076

Resources and Citations

• Nicholas Eastaugh, Valentine Walsh, Tracey Chaplin, Ruth Siddall, Pigment Compendium, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 2004 Comment: Vol. 2, page 299

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 444

• Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993

• Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine (ed.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976

• Artists' Pigments: A Handbook of their History and Characteristics, Ashok Roy (ed.), National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, Vol. 2, 1993 Comment: R.J.Gettens, H. Kuhn, W.T. Chase, "Lead White"