Cobalt poisoning is

intoxication Intoxication — or poisoning, especially by an alcoholic or narcotic substance — may refer to: * Substance intoxication: ** Alcohol intoxication ** LSD intoxication ** Toxidrome ** Tobacco intoxication ** Cannabis intoxication ** Cocaine i ...

caused by excessive levels of

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. ...

in the body. Cobalt is an

essential element In the context of nutrition, a mineral is a chemical element. Some "minerals" are essential for life, but most are not. ''Minerals'' are one of the four groups of essential nutrients; the others are vitamins, essential fatty acids, and essent ...

for health in animals in minute amounts as a component of

vitamin B B vitamins are a class of water-soluble vitamins that play important roles in cell metabolism and synthesis of red blood cells. They are a chemically diverse class of compounds. Dietary supplements containing all eight are referred to as a vita ...

. A deficiency of cobalt, which is very rare, is also potentially lethal, leading to

pernicious anemia Pernicious anemia is a disease where not enough red blood cells are produced due to a deficiency of Vitamin B12, vitamin B12. Those affected often have a gradual onset. The most common initial symptoms are Fatigue, feeling tired and weak. Other ...

. Exposure to cobalt metal dust is most common in the fabrication of

tungsten carbide Tungsten carbide (chemical formula: ) is a carbide containing equal parts of tungsten and carbon atoms. In its most basic form, tungsten carbide is a fine gray powder, but it can be pressed and formed into shapes through sintering for use in in ...

. Another source is from

wear and tear Wear and tear is damage that naturally and inevitably occurs as a result of normal wear or aging. It is used in a legal context for such areas as warranty contracts from manufacturers, which usually stipulate that damage from ''wear and tear'' ...

of certain metal-on-metal hip prostheses. Per the

International Agency for Research on Cancer The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC; ) is an intergovernmental agency forming part of the World Health Organization of the United Nations. Its role is to conduct and coordinate research into the causes of cancer. It also cance ...

(IARC), cobalt metal with

is "''probably

carcinogen A carcinogen () is any agent that promotes the development of cancer. Carcinogens can include synthetic chemicals, naturally occurring substances, physical agents such as ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, and biologic agents such as viruse ...

ic to humans''" ( IARC Group 2A Agent), whereas cobalt metal without

is "''possibly

ic to humans''" ( IARC Group 2B Agent).

Cobalt salts

The value for soluble cobalt salts has been estimated to be between 150 and 500 mg/kg. Thus, for a 100 kg person the LD₅₀ would be about 20 grams. Soluble cobalt(II) salts are "''possibly

ic to humans''" ( IARC Group 2B Agents).

Beer drinker's cardiomyopathy

In August 1965, a person presented to a hospital in

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

with symptoms suggestive of

alcoholic cardiomyopathy Alcoholic cardiomyopathy (ACM) is a disease in which the long-term consumption of alcohol (drug), alcohol leads to heart failure. ACM is a type of dilated cardiomyopathy. The heart is unable to pump blood efficiently, leading to heart failure. It ...

. Over the next eight months, fifty more cases with similar findings appeared in the same area with twenty of these being fatal. It was noted that all were heavy drinkers who mostly drank beer and preferred the Dow brand; thirty out of those drank more than of beer per day.

Epidemiological studies Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent diseases. It is a cornerstone ...

found that Dow had been adding cobalt sulfate to the beer for

foam Foams are two-phase materials science, material systems where a gas is dispersed in a second, non-gaseous material, specifically, in which gas cells are enclosed by a distinct liquid or solid material. Note, this source focuses only on liquid ...

stability since July 1965 and that the concentration added in the Quebec city brewery was ten times that of the same beer brewed in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

where there were no reported cases. A 1972 paper noted that several dozen cases were also identified over a similar time period in Omaha, Nebraska; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Belgium.

Mechanism

Cobalt in the environment

Plants, animals, and humans can all be affected by high cobalt concentrations in the environment. For plants, the uptake and distribution of cobalt is entirely species-specific. In some species of plants, the overaccumulation of cobalt can lead to an

iron deficiency Iron deficiency, or sideropenia, is the state in which a body lacks enough iron to supply its needs. Iron is present in all cells in the human body and has several vital functions, such as carrying oxygen to the tissues from the lungs as a key ...

. This in turn leads to poor growth of the plant as well as leaf loss which overall decreases the amount of oxygen produced by plants during

photosynthesis Photosynthesis ( ) is a system of biological processes by which photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical energy necessary to fuel their metabo ...

. Eventually the deficiency would lead to plant death. One such example was seen in an experiment involving the effects of increased cobalt concentration on

tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...

plants. As the dosage of cobalt in the soil surrounding the plants increased, so too did the rate of

necrosis Necrosis () is a form of cell injury which results in the premature death of cells in living tissue by autolysis. The term "necrosis" came about in the mid-19th century and is commonly attributed to German pathologist Rudolf Virchow, who i ...

of the leaves of the tomato plant. Over time this led to an inability of the plant to produce fruit and eventually the plant died.

References

External links

{{Elements in biology Cobalt Toxic effects of metals