Aerators should be regularly kept cleaned or replaced. The mesh in the aerator can collect lead debris, and then leach this toxic metal into the water passing through it. Aerators cap the ends of most drinking-water faucets. In some cases, they’re used to conserve water by reducing a faucet’s maximum flow rate; in others their primary function is to concentrate the flow of water so that it delivers more pressure and cleaning power. But these little metal cages also collect debris. Including lead. And unless you’re regularly cleaning out those aerators, you might be developing a toxic mini gravel field through which your drinking water must pass before reaching your glass or coffee pot. Indeed, one lead poisoning case in North Carolina involved a child (see link below): www.dcwater.com/waterquality/faqs.cfm

Courtesy of Mr. FRANCISCO RANGEL , MCTI/INT

Taken by Quanta SEM microscope

Diatom frustule

Courtesy of Ekaterina Nikitina

Taken by Quanta SEM microscope

Water droplets on the upper side of a leaf, showing the hydrophobic nature of the leaf surface

Courtesy of Dr. Jim Buckman , Heriot-Watt University

Taken by SEM microscope

Silicon (Si)

Courtesy of Maksim Kalienko

Taken by Quanta 3D microscope

Utricularia Aurea Seed

Courtesy of Azizi Abd. Jalil

Taken by Quanta SEM microscope

Competitive Interactions in Mixed-Species Marine Biofilm.

Courtesy of Dr. Maurício Paiva , INT - Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia

Taken by Quanta SEM microscope

The human intestine contains hundreds of differend kinds of bacteria. Some of it can be seen here.

Courtesy of Oliver Meckes

Taken by Quanta SEM microscope

Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) is a perennial, herbaceous flowering plant of the aster family, native to temperate Europe and Asia. This image was taken on a Magellan XHR Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)

Courtesy of FEI Image

Taken by Magellan XHR SEM microscope

HAADF STEM image- cross section TEM sample Contact-Liner-Silicide & Source/Drain SiGe on the left hand side and part of the PMOS gate on right hand side of image

Courtesy of Dr. Neerushana Jehanathan , Chipworks

Taken by Krios microscope

Tips of some Juniper Bush needles. The image was acquired in ESEM mode.

Courtesy of Mr. William Monroe , University of Alabama at Birmingham

Taken by Quanta SEM microscope

Sweet pea plant

Courtesy of Laura Schlimgen

Taken by Quanta SEM microscope

Selected Area Electron Diffraction of Au thin foil, with volumetric rendering based on luminance performed in CRISP (http://www.uma.es/sme/CRISP/).

Courtesy of Mr. Adolfo Martínez , Universidad de Málaga

Taken by TEM microscope

Artery with red blood cells.

Courtesy of Laura Tormo cifuentes, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales-CSIC

Taken by Inspect S50 microscope

cross section image of a copper electrode

Courtesy of Mrs. Martina Dienstleder , ZFE Graz

Taken by DualBeam microscope

False-colored SEM image of the parasite Trypanosoma brucei gambiense (15 micrometers long) responsible for human sleeping sickness in Western and Central Africa. Human innate immunity is overpowered by this parasite through a mechanism that we have discovered in our laboratory. We have dedicated the past two decades to study the molecular arms race between humans and trypanosomes and discovered the importance of resistance to these parasites in human evolution. Laboratory of Molecular Parasitology and Center for Microscopy and Molecular Imaging, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium (Daniel Monteyne, Etienne Pays and David Pérez-Morga).

Courtesy of Prof. David Pérez-Morga , Université Libre de Bruxelles

Taken by Quanta SEM microscope

A cleaning cross-section mill pattern of 40 x 20 μm is used to clean up the section view of the TSV array for closer inspection (44 nA, 20 minutes)

Courtesy of Fraunhofer-Munich

Taken by Vion Plasma microscope

Silver micro streams on crystalline silicon substrate obtained after dry etching of a thin silver film.

Courtesy of Tomas Tamulevicius

Taken by Quanta SEM microscope

Asbestos Crocidolite fiber imaged in 30 kV STEM bright field mode, at very high magnification. The lattice places with spacing 0.9 nm are clearly visible Product: Verios SEM

Taken by Verios XHR SEM microscope

Gold on Carbon by FEI Company Extreme high resolution scanning electron microscope image of gold on carbon, imaged on a Magellan XHR SEM.

Courtesy of FEI Company

Taken by Magellan XHR SEM microscope

A close-up view of the lower portion of the TSV array shows partial voids in the copper fill. Access to these defects is uniquely afforded by FIB technology.

Courtesy of Fraunhofer-Munich

Taken by Vion Plasma microscope

ZnMnO nanoparticle of view from the front, these nanoparticles are able to trap air pollutants

Courtesy of Dr. Irma Estrada , Instituto Politecnico Nacional

Taken by Quanta 3D microscope

ZnO nanowire bundle in cross section, prepared by Helios FIB. ZnO supplied by Kathy Han from Oregon State University. Imaging and FIB work performed by Jeff Ditto at CAMCOR (University of Oregon).

Courtesy of Kurt Langworthy

Taken by Helios NanoLab microscope

Plumbonacrite is metastable form of basic lead carbonate hardly found in nature, as such this mineral has not been completely studied and its properties are not well known. In our research we are interested in the role it plays on the formation of the perovskite PbTiO3.

Courtesy of Dr. Eric Formo , UGA

Taken by VolumeScope microscope

While I was exploring my laser clad sample, I found this beautiful star shining on the screen.

Courtesy of Mr. SEYYED HABIB ALAVI , Oklahoma State University

Taken by Quanta SEM microscope

Gypsum (CaSO4•2H2O), monoclinic crystals grown on the wood (spongeous structure, in the background) of the warship "USS Monitor", sank in the Atlantic Ocean during the American Civil War.

Courtesy of Egle Conforto

Taken by Quanta 3D microscope