Toxicity in mammals includes a wide range of animals and effects such as liver cirrhosis, necrosis in kidneys and the brain, gastrointestinal distress, lesions, low blood pressure, and fetal mortality. The US EPA lists copper as a micronutrient and a toxin. The MCL for copper is based on the expectation that a lifetime of consuming copper in water at this level is without adverse effect (gastrointestinal). Environmental Protection Agency's Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) in drinking water is 1.3 milligrams per liter. ![]() To further complicate diagnosis, some symptoms of excess copper are similar to those of a copper deficit. Such symptoms often include mood swings, irritability, depression, fatigue, excitation, difficulty focusing, and feeling out of control. When they are used to bind copper in the plasma, to prevent it from being absorbed in the tissues, their own function may go unfulfilled. Many of the substances that protect us from excess copper perform important functions in our neurological and endocrine systems, leading to diagnostic difficulties. There is a lot of research on the function of the Cu/Zn ratio in neurological, endocrinological, and psychological conditions. Those same protection mechanisms can cause milder symptoms, which are often misdiagnosed as psychiatric disorders. Mammals have efficient mechanisms to regulate copper stores such that they are generally protected from excess dietary copper levels. Ĭhronic (long-term) copper exposure can damage the liver and kidneys. Hemolytic anemia resulting from the treatment of burns with copper compounds is infrequent. Individuals with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency may be at increased risk of hematologic effects of copper. Signs and symptoms Īcute symptoms of copper poisoning by ingestion include vomiting, hematemesis (vomiting of blood), hypotension (low blood pressure), melena (black "tarry" feces), coma, jaundice (yellowish pigmentation of the skin), and gastrointestinal distress. So low is the toxicity of copper that copper(II) sulfate is a routine reagent in undergraduate chemistry laboratories. ![]() The suggested safe level of copper in drinking water for humans varies depending on the source, but tends to be pegged at 1.3 mg/L. But hypercupremia (high copper level in the blood) can lead to copper toxicity if it persists and rises high enough.Ĭhronic toxicity by copper is rare. Copper is essential to human health as it is a component of many proteins. Copperiedus could occur from consuming excess copper salts, but most commonly it is the result of the genetic condition Wilson's disease and Menke's disease, which are associated with mismanaged transport and storage of copper ions. A Kayser-Fleischer ring, copper deposits found in the cornea, is an indication the body is not metabolizing copper properly.Ĭopper toxicity (or Copperiedus) is a type of metal poisoning caused by an excess of copper in the body.
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