Copper toxicity (or Copperiedus) is a type of metal poisoning caused by an excess of copper in the body. Copperiedus could occur from consuming excess copper salts, but most commonly it is the result of the genetic condition Wilsons disease and Menkes disease, which are associated with mismanaged transport and storage of copper ions. Copper is essential to human health as it is a component of many proteins. Chronic toxicity by copper is "rare". 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. So rare is the toxicity of copper that copper(II) sulfate is a routine reagent in undergraduate chemistry laboratories. Signs and symptoms
Acute 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. Individuals with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency may be at increased risk of hematologic effects of copper. Hemolytic anemia resulting from the treatment of burns with copper compounds is infrequent.Chronic (long-term) copper exposure can damage the liver and kidneys. Mammals have efficient mechanisms to regulate copper stores such that they are generally protected from excess dietary copper levels.Those same protection mechanisms can cause milder symptoms, which are often misdiagnosed as psychiatric disorders. There is a lot of research on the function of the Cu/Zn ratio in neurological, endocrinological, and psychological conditions.
Overuse of copper sulfate as an algicide has been speculated to have caused a copper poisoning epidemic on Great Palm Island in 1979. == References ==