Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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 .
Toxicology testing, also known as safety assessment, or toxicity testing, is the process of determining the degree to which a substance of interest negatively impacts the normal biological functions of an organism, given a certain exposure duration, route of exposure, and substance concentration.
This method uses plants to extract and lower the concentration of toxic heavy metals in the soil. [4] An aspirational method of decontamination of heavy metals is phytoremediation or bioremediation, but these approaches have solved few real world problems. Toxic metals can bioaccumulate in the body and in the food chain. [5]
Of these, Co, Cu, Fe, Ni, and Zn are trace elements required in small amounts for enzyme and redox reactions essential in plant development. [2] However, past a certain threshold they become toxic. The other heavy metals listed are considered toxic at any concentration and can bioaccumulate, posing a health hazard to humans if consumed. [6]
A toxicologist working in a lab (United States, 2008)Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms [1] and the practice of diagnosing and treating exposures to toxins and toxicants.
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.
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. [1] [2] Bacteria in the stomachs of ruminant animals convert cobalt salts into vitamin B 12, a compound which can only be produced by bacteria or archaea.
A toxicant is any toxic substance, whether artificial or naturally occurring. [1] By contrast, a toxin is a poison produced naturally by an organism (e.g. plant, animal, insect, bacterium). [2] The different types of toxicants [3] can be found in the air, soil, water, or food. [4]