Yttrium

Yttrium is a silvery white lustrous metal. In the Periodic Table, its symbol is Y and its atomic number is 39. It was discovered in Sweden in 1794. Yttrium is found in most rare-earth minerals and in moon rocks.

Uses
Yttrium oxide is used to produce the red color in color television tubes and to produce yttrium-iron-garnets, which are used as microwave filters. Yttrium can also be used in laser systems, as a catalyst for ethylene polymerization reactions, and as a gemstone.

In Sewage Sludge
In the Targeted National Sewage Sludge Survey, a 2009 test of 84 samples of sewage sludge from around the U.S., the EPA found yttrium in every sample in concentrations ranging from 0.70 to 26.3 parts per million.

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