Elemental Limericks, Part 9

[deckardcanine]

We used thallium once to kill ants,
Rats and ringworms, but there was a chance
That we also would die.
Yet today, we still try
It for stress tests. Let’s hope they advance.

Lead is also used less than before
Due to toxins, but nothing helps more
To create certain pipes
And a number of types
Of construction. It’s not left to yore.

Old bismuth’s most diamagnetic.
It is commonly used in cosmetics
And to treat certain ills
Via liquid or pills,
But I don’t think it’s been in emetics.

Polonium’s hardly applied,
Since too many have used it and died,
And in nature, it’s brief,
Which I find a relief.
Modern tools mostly leave it aside.

In Earth’s crust, there is less than an ounce
Of astatine’s tiny amounts.
It’s half gone in mere hours.
We’d need special powers
To see it, by chemists’ accounts.

We can’t detect radon by sight,
Smell or taste, but it still is a blight.
It’s in many a home,
Coming out of the loam.
That’s a thought that may cause you a fright.

Poor francium’s almost the rarest
In the crust, taking minutes to perish,
But still astatine’s first
On that front. That’s the worst.
Seems like one of them should be embarrassed.

If you’ve learned of the Radium Girls,
You may well have been clutching your pearls.
They were ordered to lick
All their paintbrushes (ick)
When they painted clock dials. I’d hurl.

Actinium glows eerie blue,
And there’s sometimes a golden cast too.
It helps model the ocean’s
Slow vertical motion
In mixing (don’t ask what they do).

A chemist named thorium for
The Norse god of thunder, yes, Thor.
It ignites in the air
When divided with care,
So it’s not often used anymore.