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Cobalt poisoning is intoxication caused by excessive levels of cobalt in the body. Cobalt is an essential element for health in animals in minute amounts as a component of vitamin B 12 . A deficiency of cobalt, which is very rare, is also potentially lethal, leading to pernicious anemia .
In humans most cobalt is found in Vitamin B12.A cobalt atom is visible in the center in this diagram. Cobalt is essential to the metabolism of all animals.It is a key constituent of cobalamin, also known as vitamin B 12, the primary biological reservoir of cobalt as an ultratrace element.
Cobalt is also used in the petroleum industry as a catalyst when refining crude oil. This is to purge it of sulfur, which is very polluting when burned and causes acid rain. [11] Cobalt is the active center of a group of coenzymes called cobalamins. Vitamin B 12, the best-known example of the type, is an essential vitamin for all animals.
Some elements otherwise regarded as toxic heavy metals are essential, in small quantities, for human health. These elements include vanadium, manganese, iron, cobalt, copper, zinc, selenium, strontium and molybdenum. [75] A deficiency of these essential metals may increase susceptibility to heavy metal poisoning. [76]
Humans need a certain amount of certain metals to function normally. Most metals are used as cofactors or prosthetics in enzymes, catalyzing specific reactions and serving essential roles. The essential metals for humans are: Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium, Copper, Vanadium, Chromium, Manganese, Iron, Cobalt, Nickel, Zinc, Molybdenum, and Cadmium ...
A desperate search for survival – women and children as young as nine years old spend hours each day digging at a cobalt mine in Kolwezi City in the southeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Trace metals within the human body include iron, lithium, zinc, copper, chromium, nickel, cobalt, vanadium, molybdenum, manganese and others. [1] [2] [3] Some of the trace metals are needed by living organisms to function properly and are depleted through the expenditure of energy by various metabolic processes of living organisms.
selenium deficiency / selenosis: Cobalt: none NE; NE: Cobalt is available for use by animals only after having been processed into complex molecules (e.g., vitamin B 12) by bacteria. Humans contain only milligrams of cobalt in these cofactors. A deficiency of cobalt leads to pernicious anemia.