Why is there a concern about copper smelting plants?1. They may release lethal quantities of carbon monoxide into the environment.2. The copper slag can cause the leaching of some heavy metals into the environment.3. They may release sulphur dioxide as a pollutant.Select the correct answer using the code given below.
✓ Correct answer: b) 2 and 3 only
ExplanationCopper Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore in order to extract a base metal.Smelting uses heat and a chem- ical reducing agent to decompose the ore, driving off other ele- ments as gases or slag and leaving the metal base behind.It is the method of extracting pure elemental copper (Cu) from copper concentrate (CuFeS2).Statement 1 is incorrect: Copper smelting generally does not release lethal quantities of carbon monoxide (CO) into the envi- ronment.Statement 2 and 3 are correct: Some smelting processes can also produce large quantities of solid waste, known as slag.This slag may leach heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, lead or mer- cury depending on the composition of the ore) into groundwater reservoirs.Smelting processes are known to emit high quantities of air pollutants such as hydrogen fluoride, sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, offensive and noxious smoke fumes, vapours, gases, and other toxins.SUPER HINT For S1, ''Lethal quantities" is an extreme phrase, what is lethal quantity?How to define it?It's all vague and hence more probable to be false, giving corr
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