https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Copper-Consumer
“Copper in dietary supplements is often in the forms of cupric oxide, cupric sulfate, copper amino acid chelates, and copper gluconate. It is not known whether one form of copper is better than another.”
“Copper deficiency can cause extreme tiredness, lightened patches of skin, high levels of cholesterol in the blood, and connective tissue disorders affecting the ligaments and skin. Other effects of copper deficiency are weak and brittle bones, loss of balance and coordination, and increased risk of infection.”
“Can copper be harmful?
Yes, copper can be harmful if you get too much. Getting too much copper on a regular basis can cause liver damage, abdominal pain, cramps, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting. Copper toxicity is rare in healthy individuals. But it can occur in people with Wilson’s disease, a rare genetic disorder. It can also occur if copper-containing water pipes leach copper into drinking water in your home or workplace.”
“Are there any interactions with copper that I should know about?
Copper is not known to interact with any medications. “
I note there is almost no data on people who are taking over 10 mg of copper and also taking medications. Be careful.
(In other words, copper at normally small levels from 1-10 mg does not prevent medications from doing their function. This statement does not mean that medications do not block copper, which they do.)
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Copper-HealthProfessional
Interesting points from the factsheets for professionals:
Under “Health Risks from Excessive Copper”
“The Environmental Protection Agency has established a recommended upper limit for copper in public water systems of 1.3 mg/L [38,39].”
Note, they have not explained any actual health risks at slight levels above that, nor did the EPA, as we will see later.
Under the subheading “Interactions with Copper”
Copper is not known to have any clinically relevant interactions with medications.
Search “cdc copper”. The CDC tends to change link locations frequently, resulting in broken links.
ToxFAQs™ for Copper
https://wwwn.cdc.gov/TSP/ToxFAQs/ToxFAQsDetails.aspx?faqid=205&toxid=37
Toxicological Profile for Copper
https://wwwn.cdc.gov/TSP/ToxProfiles/ToxProfiles.aspx?id=206&tid=37
Toxicological Profile for Copper
https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ToxProfiles/tp132.pdf
The Toxicological Profile for Copper by the atsdr of the CDC is a 314 page document. It appears to be tremendously biased. They are primarily looking at copper as toxic. They use words like “exposure” and “contaminant” etc. They briefly consider copper as a nutrient, but that is not their focus. They use an odd form of measurement: “Cu/kg/day” For a 100 kilo man, you would have to multiply the values by 100. This enables them to use lower numbers to make copper seem extra toxic at lower values, but the values are extremely high.
As another example, the one time an infant got too much copper, they list it as 3 g. Which is 3 grams, or 3000 milligrams, a huge amount. The infant lived.
“Acute hemolytic anemia was observed in an 18-month-old child 2 days after he drank a solution containing approximately 3 g of copper sulfate (Walsh et al. 1977).”
Again, another example of bias:
They say: Musculoskeletal Effects. No studies were located regarding musculoskeletal effects in humans following oral exposure to copper
What they really mean: Musculoskeletal ADVERSE Effects. No studies were located regarding musculoskeletal ADVERSE effects in humans
following oral exposure to copper
Because undoubtedly, copper has effects on bone and muscle. Mostly positive. Muscle and bone are mostly collagen. Copper helps make collagen. They are not looking for “health effects” when they headline a section “health effects”. They are looking only at adverse health effects, not positive health effects.
Despite the bias, the truth comes out.
“3.2.2.4 Neurological Effects
No studies were located regarding neurological effects in humans following oral exposure to copper.”
In other words, they could not locate any studies on excessive copper causing nerve problems. Again, they are not claiming that low copper does not cause nerve problems, and they are not speaking to the topic of copper healing nerve problems. They are only considering whether excessive copper could cause nerve problems, and they found nothing. This is in stark contrast to people who claim that copper causes nerve damage in Wilson’s Disease patients who are supposedly suffering from “high copper” despite having low copper in the blood and low ceruloplasmin in the blood.
“3.2.2.5 Reproductive Effects
No studies were located regarding reproductive effects in humans following oral exposure to copper. “
No reproductive harm, no matter how high the levels.
“3.2.2.7 Cancer
No studies were located regarding carcinogenic effects in humans following oral exposure to copper. “
What they are saying is no human ever got cancer from taking copper, no matter how much, and there are no studies showing that people who received copper end up getting cancer. Again, the truth slips out. Copper does not cause cancer. Those who claim it does are only looking at associations, not interventions.
It is very important to note what was NOT included in the CDC’s 314 page document, “Toxicological Profile for Copper”. They never mention levels of copper supplements that cause any kind of harm, and they never mention any toxicity or disease caused by copper supplementation. I’ll say that another way, it’s extremely important. There are no intervention studies, where they gave groups of people copper, which then caused harm. None. This lack of data in a 314-page document, which is all about the harms of copper, is amazingly positive for copper. There is, in essence, not a single study showing that copper harms anyone, despite the 314 pages devoted to this exact topic. There are only case studies of poisoning and correlations. Amazing.
If the location of the next document moves or is broken, search “EPA copper limit”. I will discuss this later in its own chapter.
National Primary Drinking Water Regulations
https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/national-primary-drinking-water-regulations