WHAT IS FERROUS SULFATE FOR? THE 6 MAIN USES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The ferrous sulfate serves mainly as a drug for preventing or combating anemias and as antihemorragic, in agriculture as soil nutrient, to purify water treatment plants and as a base for dyes and colorings.

Ferrous sulfate is a solid, crystalline chemical compound with greenish, yellow or brown colorations. Its molecular formula is FeSO ₄ and it changes depending on the temperature in which it is heated and the exposure to air or the lack of it.

It is a reducing agent considered as an anhydrous saline reducing material, that is, it oxidizes itself, preventing or delaying the oxidation of another material with which it interacts.

It is also called as green vitriol, iron vitriol, melanterite, iron sulfate, iron tetraoxidosulfate, green cupper and white cup.

This compound is obtained during the manufacture of steel at the time of finishing and before its coating.

The treatment of using sulfuric acid as a stripper for steel parts produces large amounts of ferrous sulfate that are easy to store.

The most commercial way to obtain it is by bathing the iron with sulfuric acid or oxidizing the pyrite.

Top 6 Uses of Ferrous Sulfate

1.- In medicine and nutrition

Iron is a necessary element for every living organism. Iron-containing enzymes and proteins are essential in many biological oxidation and transport functions.

Many protein-based foods contain the iron necessary for the body to function properly.

Also certain industrially processed foods are enriched and fortified with iron in the form of ferrous sulfate to add more properties.

But in some cases, people can suffer from iron deficiencies because the body is not receiving them or cannot assimilate them efficiently with the food eaten.

The fastest, cheapest and most effective medical way to correct an iron deficiency in the body is the oral administration of iron salts. This is where ferrous sulfate serves as a supplement in the treatment of blood deficiencies.

There are nutritional supplements on the market with ferrous sulfate among their ingredients and also medicinal drugs in the form of tablets or drops. It is mainly used to treat anemia.

It is recommended to take this medicine one hour before eating or two hours after taking food, as the body absorbs it better on an empty stomach.

In different ways, it is also used as an anti-hemorrhagic or anticoagulant, especially during a surgical operation.

2.- In agriculture and horticulture

Ferrous sulfate helps to reduce the pH of both the organic matter in the growing compost, and the soil itself. Both uses favor agricultural production by providing large amounts of nutrients.

Plants also need iron to function properly. When there are deficiencies of this nutrient, its color is yellowish.

Agriculture has found a more economical solution by mixing ferrous sulfate directly into organic components.

Also this use improves the regulation of soil temperature, helps in the absorption and retention of water and reduces the erosion process.

Likewise, in soils with a high content of limestone material, ferrous sulfate is perfect to protect it from degradation.

In horticulture, it is a component in gardens and lawns for the removal of moss. In some cases, ferrous sulfate is included in fertilizers or pesticides that are sold commercially.

Another way in which it is used to combat moss is in grass sand, which is easier to apply.

3.- Sewage treatment plants

Ferrous sulfate is a very easily dissolving coagulant for use in sewage treatment.

This is capable of forming complex compounds with phosphorus that react very well in the water purification process in purification plants.

The product also works in odor control applications because it prevents the formation of hydrogen sulfates in dirty water and the eutrophication of gases on the surface.

4.- In colorants or dyes

The famous ink used to write with a pen from the Middle Ages until the end of the 17th century (western), was made with iron sulfate. Iron gall ink is made with the salts of ferrous sulfate and acids from the sap or glucose of trees such as oak.

You can still get this type of ink for writing, but its use is more traditional and classic. Its properties act both as a concentrator of the color given by another substance and as the basis for the color of the product.

It is also used in the textile industry as a dye or mordant of other dyes, since its properties make it an excellent color fixer on fabrics.

In marquetry work, the maple or maple wood used is stained with ferrous sulfate to give it a silver hue. This wood is known as harewood.

The rustic color of this chemical compound also makes it suitable for giving a metallic yellow color to limestone, concrete, concrete and sandstone, used in the construction industry.

5.- Mycology

In the study and identification of fungi in mycology, ferrous sulfate is used both in crystals and dissolved in water. The inner flesh or weft of certain mushrooms change color when they come into contact with iron salts.

The ball-type mushrooms stand out, and especially the russula mushrooms, which stain green or red when reacting with solid ferrous sulfate or mixed in water in a 10% solution.

In ballots, a drop of the solution is dropped onto the hood, meat root, or pores to induce the coloring reaction.

6.- Industrial use in pipes

Ferrous sulfate is also used in condenser turbine cooling water to protect the coating on brass pipes by creating a corrosion resistant coating.

References

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