Cobalt exposure: toxicological aspects

Abstract

Cobalt is a chemical element that, besides its essentiality as a vitamin B12 component, has its main use in metallurgy to produce steel with special features of hardness and resistance. Oxides have been used as catalists for chemical and oil industry, in salts forms, as pigments in ceramics plants. This work has the purpose of a toxicocinetic and toxicodinamic review of exposure to cobalt in metal, salt and oxide forms. The toxic effects observed in exposure to different cobalt compounds are more pronunciated in pulmonary level, in bronchial and fibrotic forms. The toxic effects observed in the exposure to different cobalt compounds, the dose-effect relationship and dose-response, and the reference values in health and non-exposed population, have brought ACGIH (American Conference of Governmental and Industrial Hygienists) of the United States to propose since 1995 a BEI (Biological Exposure Indice) to this kind of exposure. Although Brazil has not included cobalt in the PCMSO (Programa de Controle Médico de Saúde Ocupacional), the toxicological studies can lead to the use of a biological indicator to cobalt and respective compound exposure.