Molybdenum

Well, here we go again, looking at the recommendation of daily intake of vitamins and minerals, molybdenum will appear on the list and you wonder: “What is molybdenum”. You came to the right place to find information about molybdenum. Molybdenum + other minerals and vitamins are essential for the human body. Molybdenum in the body is a mineral and also often mentioned as a trace nutrient because it is only needed in very small amounts in the human body. It is one of the metallic minerals and is of gray, silvery white metallic color. It gets often confused with graphite or lead ore because of some of its properties as well as its looks.

Molybdenum is often used in such applications as alloys, electrodes and catalysts. In industry molybdenum is readily available and often a by-product of copper production. An interesting tidbit about molybdenum probably is that in some World War II artillery pieces molybdenum was an essential component of steel.

Molybdenite belonging to the molybdenum minerals is the major mineral compound that molybdenum is extracted from.

Benefits of molybdenum include prevention of tooth decay,, regulating the pH balance in the body, enhancing the body's ability to burn fat and increase metabolism.

Molybdenum deficiency symptoms include stunted growth and development, loss of appetite and impaired reproduction.

Molybdenum poisoning or overdoses can act as an inhibitor for purine catabolism, it affects the body's metabolism, protein synthesis and even growth. Chronic exposure to higher levels of molybdenum can cause symptoms including fatigue, headaches, and joint pains.

Blood molybdenum is usually in the form of MoO4. To test for amounts of molybdenum blood tests are always good bets and lab tests for deficiency are also available.

A major molybdenum food source is liver meats, including pork, lamb and beef liver. Other significant molybdenum food sources include eggs, green beans, sunflower seeds, lentil, wheat flour, and cereal gain.

As often created with mining and metalworking, molybdenum dusts and fumes are not toxic to the human body. But since long term effetcs are not properly determined yet and an exposrue to these fumes and dusts over a certainamount of time can cause eye and skin irritations allowed amounts to be exposed to are regulated. Direct inhalation or ingestion of molybdenum should in general be avoided for safety.

Molybdenum and arthritis have been the topic of several researches and studies and some studies suggested that overexposure to molybdenum can cause arthritis.

The world's largest producers of molybdenum materials are the United States, Canada, Chile, Russia, and China.

Other molybdenum information can be found through the International Mineralogy Association.