Reducing copper toxicity by drinking coffee

Abstract

Copper contamination in drinking water is not a new issue in todays world. Various modern industries use copper for their raw materials and discharge copper by-products into the watercourse. Current water treatment technology is not a guarantee for providing safe drinking water required by humans. Although copper is one of the essential nutrients required by the human body for both physical and mental health, an excessive copper concentration in the human body becomes a toxic threat. Drinking coffee habitually may be helpful in reducing copper concentrations, which might lead to a reduction in copper toxicity. This experimental study, using copper-ion selective electrode (Cu-ISE), lowered copper concentrations due to the availability of copper binding ligands found in coffee solution. The copper electrodes were calibrated thoroughly using ethylenediamine (en) standard buffer solution before being used for determining free and bound copper ions in coffee solution.