Cobalt

The word cobalt is known by lots of people, especially since a good amount of blue colors on the market are called cobalt blue, but do you actually know the chemical element cobalt? Cobalt + other minerals are essential for the body.

Cobalt is a mineral with ferromagnetic properties and another important trace mineral for the human body. Cobalt the mineral is a hard, silver-grey metal which can be found in a big variety of ores. Cobalt mineral is used in the preparation of water-resistant, high strength, magnetic alloys. Some of the compounds of cobalt are used to produce inks, paints and varnishes.

Cobalt and nickel are two characteristic components of meteorites. One very important role besides in the human health system is one of cobalt's compounds that is artificially produced. It is a radioactive material and is important as a cancer tracer and treatment. Other medical uses od cobalt is the use for sterilizing medical equipment and products, but also for manufacturing plastics.

Cobalt is commercially available in many forms including foil, pieces, powder, rod and wire.

In the glass industry cobalt is used to color glass a beautiful deep blue color. It is also used to color ceramics and in paints and used as a drier for porcelain enamel and paints.

Natural sources of cobalt are ores found in Zaire, Marocco and Canada. But another way to produce cobalt is as a byproduct in the production of copper, nickel and lead.

Cobalt can enter the human body in air, water and food. The cobalt mineral has beneficial and harmful effects on health. Vitamin b12, which is essential for good health has cobalt in very small amounts in it. Overdoses of cobalt can harm lungs and heart and even cause dermatitis. Other symptoms of cobalt toxicity can also have effects on liver and kidney.

If you have ever wondered if thereis a special connection between cobalt and calcium, let me tell you, yes they are both needed in the human body and they are essential as such. But no special treatments are on the market emphasizing the use of cobalt in connection with calcium. But it seams that cobalt even gets attention from musical groups choosing their names to such as “cobalt and calcium” and some support groups that are called oabalt and calcium got their name because of the age of people (old, old, old) that attend them. Even car manufacturers like the name so much that there is a car called cobalt out on the market.