Copper poisoning

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Classification according to ICD-10
T56.4 Toxic effect: copper and its compounds
ICD-10 online (WHO version 2019)

An increased intake of copper through food or the environment over a longer period of time can lead to copper poisoning . An adult person needs around 1 to 1.5 mg of copper per day .

There are various sources in the environment that can lead to copper poisoning in the event of long-term exposure, for example through an increased copper value in the tap water through the use of old pipes or through the copper-containing fungicides and pesticides used in agriculture . Above all, the consumption of tobacco products and working in copper processing plants lead to increased exposure to copper.

Symptoms

Too large an amount of copper leads to arthritis and other inflammations in the respiratory tract, digestive tract and prostate , and increased copper exposure can also lead to high blood pressure, an increased risk of heart attack and disorders of the liver metabolism. In addition, an increased copper level ensures the increased formation of free radicals and can thus lead to depression and nervous diseases. Similar symptoms occur in the hereditary disease Wilson's disease . In this case, the function of copper transport proteins is disturbed, which hinders the excretion of copper.

In animals, copper intoxication above 300 ppm leads to liver cell death, which is usually symptom-free and regenerative in nature. Intoxications from 900 ppm lead to irreversible liver cell destruction and then get into the blood, where they lead to intravascular hemolysis. This in turn shows up as pre-hepatic jaundice. The excess copper is excreted through the kidneys, where it in turn leads to nephrosis. In the central nervous system , both too high and too low a copper content leads to demyelination and central failure symptoms such as ataxia, whereby the animals usually die within hours to days before the onset of central symptoms.

treatment

If there is an increased exposure to copper, the excretion of copper can be accelerated by taking larger amounts of manganese , zinc , vitamin B6 and alpha-lipoic acid .

literature

  • Ludwig Hirt: The diseases of the workers. Contributions to the promotion of public health care, first department, third part, Ferdinand Hirt and Son, Leipzig 1875.
  • Ambroise Tardieu: The poisonings in a forensic and clinical relationship. Published by Ferdinand Enke, Erlangen 1868.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ [1] Website of the German Nutrition Society . Retrieved July 12, 2011.

Web links