Manganese is a very hard, brittle, gray-white transition metal that is naturall

y found in a variety of minerals, but never on its own. Manganese is one of the
most common elements in Earth's crust and is widely distributed across the plane
t's surface.
Manganese is vital to human and animal life in metabolic functions. Many alloys
containing manganese are used in steel production, glass making, and even to mak
e the aluminum in soda cans thinner and stronger.
Just the facts
Atomic number (number of protons in the nucleus): 25
Atomic symbol (on the Periodic Table of Elements): Mn
Atomic weight (average mass of the atom): 54.938
Density: 4.29 ounces per cubic inch (7.43 grams per cubic cm)
Phase at room temperature: Solid
Melting point: 2,282 degrees Fahrenheit (1,250 degrees Celsius)
Boiling point: 3,740 F (2,060 C)
Number of natural isotopes (atoms of the same element with a different numbe
r of neutrons): 1. There are also 21 very short-lived radioactive or artificial
isotopes with extremely short half-lives.
Most common isotopes: Mn-55 (100 percent of natural abundance)
History
Manganese has been used since ancient times, science writer John Emsley wrote in
an article in Nature Chemistry. Cave artists in France used the black ore (mang
anese dioxide or pyrolusite) at least 30,000 years ago. Pliny the Elder, a Roman
philosopher, wrote in the first century A.D. that it was also used in glass mak
ing to make the glass clear and as a black pigment in pottery.
In 1740, Johann Heinrich Pott, a German chemist, observed that pyrolusite contai
ned a new earth metal, rather than iron as was commonly believed, according to C
hemicool, and Ignatius Gottfried Kaim, an Austrian chemist, first isolated manga
nese in 1770. The isolated metal was impure, and several attempts to purify mang
anese failed. Johan Gottlieb Gahn, a Swedish chemist, came close in 1774 when he
produced a white, hard, brittle metal.
Who knew?
Manganese is a transition metal, according to Chemicool. Transition metals a
re ductile, malleable and conduct electricity and heat.
According to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the word manganese comes fr
om the Latin word for magnets, "magnes." Manganese, however, by itself is not ma
gnetic. When combined with aluminum, antimony and copper, the resulting alloys a
re highly ferromagnetic.
Pure manganese is reactive, burns in oxygen, rusts in water and dissolves in
dilute acids, according to Lenntech.
Manganese is very abundant in soils, occurring in both oxides and hydroxides
, according to Lenntech.
According to the Royal Society of Chemistry, manganese is the fifth most abu
ndant metal in Earth's crust.
Manganese is essential to photosynthesis and is used to create oxygen, accor
ding to Chemicool.
It was discovered that manganese is vital to human lives in the 1950s, accor
ding to Emsley, in an article published in Nature.
Manganese is essential to metabolic functions, according to Chemicool. Human
bodies contain approximately 10 to 20 milligrams, and because it can't be store
d, humans need to constantly replenish the supply through diet.
Some of the foods that contain the highest concentrations of manganese inclu
de spinach, tea, some herbs, grains, rice, soybeans, eggs, nuts, olive oil, gree
n beans and oysters, according to Lenntech.
 Manganese is primarily found in the bones, liver, kidneys, and pancreas, acc
ording to the University of Maryland Medical Center, and helps the body form con
nective tissue, bones, blood-clotting factors, and sex hormones.
According to Lenntech, manganese is essential not only to humans, but also t
o all species. Some species can store and accumulate manganese including diatoms
, mollusks and sponges.
Too much manganese, however, can be toxic. According to Lenntech, symptoms c
an include hallucinations, forgetfulness, nerve damage, dullness, weak muscles,
headaches and insomnia. It can also cause Parkinson's disease, lung embolisms, b
ronchitis, impotence in men and schizophrenia.
Too little manganese can cause obesity, glucose intolerance, blood clotting,
skin conditions, low cholesterol levels, skeletal disorders, neurological sympt
oms and even hair color changes, according to Lenntech.
According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, manganese may be ben
eficial in treating osteoporosis, arthritis, premenstrual syndrome, diabetes and
epilepsy.
Because it is brittle by itself, manganese is primarily used in alloys, acco
rding to the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Manganese is used to make clear glass, to desulfurize and deoxidize steel in
steel production and to reduce the octane rating in gasoline. It also is used a
s a black-brown pigment in paint and as filler in dry cell batteries. Its alloys
help stiffen the aluminum in soft-drink cans, according to Chemicool.
The purple color of amethysts is caused by manganese, according to the Jeffe
rson Laboratory.
The lack of manganese in sedimentary rocks dating between 400 and 1,800 mill
ion years ago indicates that oxygen levels in the ocean were low, according to J
ohn Emsley.
Manganese is primarily mined in China, Africa, Australia and Gabon, accordin
g to the Royal Society of Chemistry. The metal is commonly found in oxides and i
s separated by being reduced with sodium, magnesium or aluminum or by electrolys
is.
At least 25 million tons of manganese ores are mined annually, according to
Lenntech.
Approximately 85 to 90 percent of mined manganese is used in steelmaking, ac
cording to the United States Geological Survey.
Current research
One major research area involving manganese is in health. It is known that manga
nese is essential for human systems to function properly and too much is bad for
you. Much research is being done investigating exposure to an excess of mangane
se.
One set of studies focuses on researching a potential link between manganese exp
osure in children and their intellectual function. A study by a group of researc
hers in the United States and Bangladesh published in 2011 in NeuroToxicology by
Wasserman, et al. expanded upon a previous study that only studied the effects
of arsenic on children. The researchers tested levels of manganese in 299 childr
en between the ages of 8 and 11. The study found that there is a significant lin
k between a variety of manganese markers and perceptual reasoning and memory ski
lls.
Several additional studies following up on the previous one were published in su
bsequent years, including one published in Environmental Health Perspectives in
2015 by Wasserman, et al. with about 300 10-year-old children. Another one, publ
ished in Environmental Health in 2016 by Rodrigues, et al., studied over 500 chi
ldren that were 2 to 3 years old. Both studies involved teams of scientists from
the United States and Bangladesh working with Bangladeshi children. Blood sampl
es were taken in both studies and levels of manganese and arsenic were measured
(as well as lead in the second study). As with the 2011 study, researchers found
 that that reduced levels of manganese (as well as arsenic and lead) in the drin
king water showed increased working memory and other cognitive functions. Contin
ued research will be conducted to determine longer-term effects of high levels o
f manganese exposure in the intelligence of children.
Another study published in Environmental Health Perspectives by Rohman, et al.,
a group of scientists from Sweden and Bangladesh, performed a similar study focu
sing on behavior as well as cognitive abilities in 10-year-old Bangladeshi child
ren. The study tested a group of children from the time the mothers were pregnan
t until they were 10, and increased exposure to manganese early in life appeared
to lead to increased risk of behavior problems when the children were 10.