The dietary requirement is from 1-3 mg Cu per day. Since Cu is present in most foodstuffs dietary deficiency was thought unlikely in the general public. However, earlier estimates of total Cu dietary intake were erroneously high and Cu intestinal absorption is adversely affected by other dietary constituents. Some workers consider that subclinical Cu depletion may be widespread and is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Severely malnourished children and adults on prolonged intravenous nutrition, have been found to respond to copper supplementation.
Deficiency presents as a microcytic hypochromic anaemia resistant to iron therapy.
There is a marked neutropenia. Intestinal malabsorption of copper is common in any condition resulting in severe diarrhoea. Children, particularly neonates, fed with diet deficient in copper, are at risk of developing bone disease due to the inability to form collagen effectively. Acute ingestion of copper salts produces nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. A severe intravascular haemolysis develops leading to renal failure.