Week Four - Catalyst of the Week: Nickel

I am quite fascinated/obsessed/intrigued by food and especially in how a lot of the products people consume today are actually made. When I read that margarine, a common household product, is made using nickel, I wanted to see investigate a little more.

Nickel is a transitional metal, and while very reactive, it requires a very high temperature and pressure to do so. Interestingly, most of Earth's nickel is actually found in its core - go digging!

Nickel doesn't come without its adverse effects. In certain forms, it can be a carcinogenic. Nickel carbonyl, a very toxic gas, is a double edged sword due to nickel's inherent toxic nature as well as any carbonyl's ability to release carbon monoxide. Perhaps more familiar to most people is nickel's tendency to cause dermatitis due to allergic reactions to jewelry made with nickel.

Now back to the margarine. Nickel's role in margarine involves hydrogenation, which is a common catalytic function for nickel. The oils used in margarine are mixed with finely ground nickel (remember, toxic!) and then submitted to extremely high temperatures and pressures. When hydrogen gas is added to the mix, nickel causes the hydrogen atoms to be converted into the oil molecules. This is the process that creates trans-fat. Nickel's role is done, but then   bleaching the grey color out of this product, de-odorizing the chemical smell, and the addition of synthetic flavors and vitamins follow. Mmmmmm......

I think I'll stick with butter.