The essential metals for humans: a brief overview

Zoroddu, Maria Antonietta

;Aaseth, Jan;Crisponi, Guido;Medici, Serenella;Peana, Massimiliano

;Nurchi, Valeria Marina

Last

2019-01-01

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Abstract

The human body needs about 20 essential elements in order to function properly and among them, for certain, 10 are metal elements, though for every metal we do need, there is another one in our body we could do without it. Until about 1950 poor attention was given to the so-called "inorganic elements" and while researches on "organic elements" (C, N, O and H) and organic compounds were given high priority, studies on essential inorganic elements were left aside. Base on current knowledge it is ascertained today that metals such as Na, K, Mg, Ca, Fe, Mn, Co, Cu, Zn and Mo are essential elements for life and our body must have appropriate amounts of them. Here a brief overview to highlight their importance and current knowledge about their essentiality.