Since the body does not synthesize copper, this essential level of copper must come from nutrition. The upper limit is 10 milligrams per day for healthy adults. The group’s intake recommendation is 0.9 milligram of copper a day for adults, more for lactating women (1.3 milligrams) and less for children (0.34 milligrams for children up to three and 0.44 milligrams for children between four and eight years). Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academies Institute of Medicine, set both the recommended dietary allowances (RDA) and the upper intake levels for copper. The Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) guidelines, set in 2001 by the U.S. Copper deficiency, although rare, can cause anemia and connective tissue, bone, and nervous system abnormalities. It is also involved in both iron and energy metabolism. In humans copper is necessary for the healthy development of connective tissue, nerve coverings, and bone. Copper is a component of more than 30 enzymes in the human body, including some involved in collagen synthesis. Photo credit: Dartmouth Toxic Metals Research ProgramĬopper is an essential nutrient for all living things. A significant amount of copper used in the United States comes from recycled scrap and scrap left over from copper production.įoods that contain copper. Copper is also used in telecommunications. The electric and electrical products industry is the next largest consumer of copper. Copper is used in construction of homes and other buildings, the manufacture of cars and airplanes, and for plumbing pipes. Today, construction accounts for the largest consumption of copper. Copper is the third most widely consumed metal globally - after steel and aluminum. Since ancient times, copper has been used by itself and in combination with other metals to make weapons, tools, household items, and artwork.Ĭopper’s high conductivity made it the metal of choice in the development of electrical engineering in the 18th and 19th centuries. Humans have been using copper for nearly ten thousand years. Water can be polluted by a number of other copper sources as well, including agricultural runoff from farms using copper-based pesticides.Ĭopper is an essential element for all living organisms, therefore it is present in he food we eat - whether plant or animal - and in human tissue. Copper and other minerals present in the tailings - the waste left over after ore has been extracted from rock - make their way into soil and waterways. Copper mines can be a significant source of pollution. Smelters and other copper production facilities emit high copper concentrations to surrounding air and soil. Industrial operations such as smelters, foundries, power stations, incinerators and other combustion sources emit copper into the atmosphere, where it can return to the earth in precipitation. Human activity accounts for much of the copper found today in air, soil, and water. Canada, the countries of the former Soviet Union, Zambia, China, Poland and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are also copper-producing nations. The major producers of copper are Chile, which supplies 35 percent of world’s copper and the United States, which produces roughly 11 percent. The largest known copper ore deposits in the world are in Chuquicamata in the Chilean Andes, and the largest deposit of native copper is in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Geological, meteorological, and biological processes disperse copper into the air, soil, and water as well as into organisms. Where is Copper Found?Ĭopper is naturally present in rock, either in its pure form or in compounds. Oxidized copper, or copper that has been exposed to air, develops a green coating or “patina” that can be seen on old copper pennies, the Statue of Liberty, and copper roofs.

Copper can be mixed with other metals to form alloys, such as bronze (copper and tin) and brass (copper and zinc). Copper sulfate and copper oxide are two important copper compounds used in industry and agriculture. Turquoise, malachite, and azurite are three brilliantly colored copper compounds used as gemstones.

Naturally occurring pure copper is called “native copper.” Copper is also found in nature mixed with other elements in a number of compounds, many distinguished by their blue-green color. It was the first metal to be widely used by humans. The name copper is derived from the word Cyprus, the island where the Romans obtained their copper supply.

Copper is a light reddish-brown metallic element with the symbol “Cu” and atomic number 29 on the periodic table of the elements.

Copper with patina color fabric