Essentiality and Toxicity of Mineral Elements

Prescribed Ca, Ca prevented fragile bones, parathyroid glands are influenced 

Essential part ofbones as Ca3P04. Ca and P should be part of the diet. Lame sickness and botulism in cattle 

Abnormal appetite for salt after depletion in cows. Difference between sodium and chlorine 

Benign familial hypercalduria, polyuria, polydipsia, loss of K and appetite, somnolence, heart-rhythm disturbances 

Excess of either Ca or P causes bone disorders and reduces feed consumption and gain, calcification of soft tissues in relation with vitamin D in cattle through yellow oat. 

---

The analytical measurement of elemental concentrations is important for the analysis of the major and minor constituents of pharmaceutical products. The use of atomic spectroscopy in this regard has been the subject of several reviews (2,3,35,36). Metals are major constituents of several pharmaceuticals such as dialysis solutions, lithium carbonate tablets, antacids, and multivitamin-mineral tablets. For these substances, spectroscopic analysis is an important tool. It is indispensable for the determination of trace-metal impurities in pharmaceutical products and the qualitative and quantitative analysis of metals, essential and toxic, in biological fluids and tissues (37). Beyond this, several drugs which do... 

The many mineral interactions which influence the safe dietary levels of essential and toxic elements are partly represented in Figure 3.2. While interactions involving dietary elements may be either detrimental or beneficial, the major concern is that an antagonistic element may induce a deficiency of its counterpart nutrient whose concentration in the diet is borderline. The assessment of such in-vivo interactions will be considered here under the limits of bioavailability, which occurs at the site of absorption in the intestinal mucosa or the redistribution from one tissue to another one. Figure 3.2 illustrates the most important, quite different, species-specific interactions of metals, trace and macro elements, respectively, with net requirements in animals and man. Clearly, there are interrelationships in the metabolism of the mineral elements consumed. 

Under unusual circumstances, toxicity may arise from ingestion of excess amounts of minerals. This is uncommon except in the cases of fluorine, molybdenum, selenium, copper, iron, vanadium, and arsenic. Toxicosis may also result from exposure to industrial compounds containing various chemical forms of some of the minerals. Aspects of toxicity of essential elements have been pubhshed (161). 

Multi-element trace analysis is an important prerequisite for the quality assurance of foodstuffs with respect to the characterization of non-essential, toxic and essential (nutrient) elements as pollutions or as mineral elements relevant to health. Contamination with heavy metals such as Cd, Pb or Hg has become a serious problem with increasing environmental (artificial) contamination e.g., due to industrial pollution. The increasing use of inorganic mass spectrometric techniques (especially of ICP-MS) in the analysis of foodstuffs for multi-element analysis of trace elements or the detection of selected elements and species at a low concentration level has resulted from advances in very sensitive and quantitative measurements of metals, metalloids and several non-metals, including their speciation. 

The determination of trace elements in foods is very important as some minerals are toxic whereas others are essential for vital processes in humans. In fact, the knowledge of the relationship between the mineral content in the diet and some diseases such as hypertension or osteoporosis has increased the interest in the mineral content — or the presence of metals, if toxic — in food. USAL has proved an effective choice for removing metals such as Pb, Cd, Cu and Ca from meat [20], chloride salts from various types of... 

Phosphorus is an essential mineral element. Phosphorus homeostasis in the body is controlled by hormonal and renal control systems. Phosphorus intoxication from excessive consumption in food is not known. Toxic exposures have been reported to occur from its industrial use or from suicidal ingestion of phosphorus-containing materials. Phosphorus is highly toxic to humans and animals. The acute lethal dose in humans is lmgkg . ... 

Bones are actually living protein networks to which minerals attach themselves. Not aU of the minerals deposited on bones are essential to bone building. There are at least two dozen elements in bones that have no known function in the human body, as well as a handful of nonessential elements, such as boron, strontium, silicon, barium, bismuth, and arsenic (yes, arsenic), that are believed to do some good. Five toxic elements—lead, cadmium, mercury, polonium, and radium—are often found in human bones. As long as they are stabilized in the bones, they do no apparent harm. 

Many mineral cations and anions, including essential nutrient elements, may be phytotoxic at excessive concentrations. As in the case of membrane transport, toxicities are profoundly iiffiuenced by The toxicity of cations is reduced by treatments that reduce the negativity of y/pu 6), and the toxicity of anions is enhanced (Fig. 7). Both Figs. 6 and 7 show that root elongation is more directly influenced by surface activities than by activities in the medium. 

The airborne particles differ significantly not only in size but also in chemical composition, depending primarily on the sources of the particles. Desert and other bare lands are sources of dust particles which are primarily made of mineral oxides. Sea salt originated from sea spray consists mainly of sodium chloride. Soil tillage in agriculture produces dust particles characterizing the land surface. In contrast, urban dust is often rich in cement powder, tire scraps, car exhaust particulate. Soot particles generated from various combustion processes are essentially elemental carbon. Combustion also produces fly ash which is rich in oxides and contains toxic metals. 

---