Tellurium and health. Tellurium Tellurium is a chemical element with symbol Te and atomic number 52. It is a brittle, mildly toxic, rare, silver-white metalloid. Tellurium is chemically related to selenium and sulfur. It is occasionally found in native form as elemental crystals. Tellurium is far more common in the universe as a whole than on Earth. Its extreme rarity in the Earth's crust, comparable to that of platinum, is due partly to its high atomic number, but also to its formation of a volatile hydride which caused it to be lost to space as a gas during the hot nebular
Nonmetal with the same tetragonal structure as tin; when decompressed—and depending on the speed of pressure release—metallic germanium forms a series of allotropes that are metastable at ambient condition. Germanium also forms a graphene analogue, germanene. Arsenic and antimony form several well known allotropes (yellow, grey, and black). Tellurium is known only in its crystalline and amorphous forms; astatine is not known to have any allotropes. Hydrogen and helium are estimated to make up approximately 99 per cent of all ordinary matter in the universe. Less than five per cent of the Universe is believed to be made of ordinary matter,