Does coffee have cobalt?
The cobalt content of coffee was found to be considerably higher than that of tea. The content of 5 teas, averaged, was 0,20 μg/g tea and that of 7 coffees was 0,93 μg/g coffee, the average of 3 different methods, each of which averaged 0,75, 0,89 and 1,14 μ/g coffee.
Coffee infusions can also be a source of fluoride (up to 2.5%), chromium (up to 0.4% of daily intake for women and 0.2% for men), and cobalt (up to 0.1%).
The maximum concentration for cobalt of this element, 0.70 mg/ kg, was found in white tea and the minimum, 0.44 mg/kg, was in black tea, although very similar to those in the red and black teas, 0.45 and 0.46 mg/kg, respectively.
- fish.
- nuts.
- green leafy vegetables, such as broccoli and spinach.
- cereals, such as oats.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has the largest cobalt reserves in the world, at some 3.5 million metric tons as of 2021.
Cobalt, by nature, is a finite resource: There is only so much that exists in the world.
“Comparing demand and supply for cobalt, there is, geologically speaking, there is enough raw material in the Earth's crust.
Some of the dietary sources that are abundant in cobalt include red meat, milk, fish, cabbage, figs and turnips. Check out this infographic to know about 5 foods super-rich in cobalt.
In most drinking water, cobalt levels are less than 1–2 ppb. For most people, food is the largest source of cobalt intake.
Small amounts of cobalt are present naturally in rock, soil, water, plants, animals and air.
What to avoid if you are allergic to cobalt?
- Jewellery [see Jewellery allergy]
- Metal household items (eg, cutlery, zippers, coins, keys,)
- Cosmetics – especially eye shadow, blushers, and compact powders [see Contact reactions to cosmetics]
- Leather.
- Clothing and shoes [see Textile contact dermatitis, Shoe contact dermatitis]
- Hair dye.
Milk and eggs contain about 0.004-0.005 mg Co per kg; dairy products like cheese and butter are relatively rich in cobalt (0.02 mg per kg FW). Virtually all cobalt in offal and beef meat can be attributed to vitamin B12.

Cobalt is also supplied as part of vitamin B12, which is mainly found in animal sources like meat, fish, eggs, and dairy products.
Cobalt is one of the components of vitamin B12, also known as cobalamin.
1. Democratic Republic of Congo. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is by far the world's largest producer of cobalt, accounting for roughly 70 percent of global production.
Global cobalt consumption share 2020, by region
China was by far the world's largest cobalt consuming region in 2020, accounting for some 32 percent of the global cobalt consumption.
Identified world terrestrial cobalt resources are about 25 million tons.
Mostly, researchers have replaced cobalt with nickel. "The higher nickel you go, the better the energy density," Arumugam Manthiram, an expert in energy storage and professor at the University of Texas at Austin, told UPI.
No, lithium-ion batteries do not have to use cobalt. Lithium-ion chemistries without cobalt include: Lithium Ferrous (Iron) Phosphate (LiFePo4 or LFP) Lithium Titanate (Li4Ti5O12 or LTO)
Piedmont Lithium CEO Keith Phillips told Yahoo Finance Live in a recent interview: “Yes, we'll [eventually] have enough, but not by that time. There's going to be a real crunch to get the material. We don't have enough in the world to turn that much [lithium] production in the world by 2035."
Is there cobalt in Tesla batteries?
Tesla even released some very rare and interesting details about the effort. The automaker says that it had directly sourced over 95% of the lithium hydroxide, 50% of the cobalt, and more than 30% of the nickel used in its high-energy density cells (NCA and NCM) in 2021.
Two of the most common metals used in the development of a battery are copper as the cathode, because copper carries electricity so well, and zinc as the anode.
The key difference between cobalt and lithium is that cobalt is a transition metal that is toxic whereas lithium is an alkali metal that is nontoxic.
According to the Agency of Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, chocolate is one of the foods that have the highest nickel and cobalt content. These alloys are added during the refining process and in constant contact with stainless steel machinery.
The symptoms and problems associated with long-term cobalt poisoning are rarely reversible. People who have such poisoning will likely have to take medicine for the rest of their life to control the symptoms.