text: As in any technology that has long been conducted on the multi-million ton per year scale, flotation technologies have the potential to threaten the environment beyond the disruption caused by mining. Froth flotation employs a host of organic chemicals and relies upon elaborate machinery. Some of the chemicals (cyanide) are acutely toxic but hydrolyze to innocuous products. Naturally occurring fatty acids are widely used. Tailings and effluents are contained in lined ponds. Froth flotation is "poised for increased activity due to their potential usefulness in environmental site cleanup operations" including recycling of plastics and metals, not to mention water treatment.