 Discovery Information |
| Who:
George Brandt
|
| When: 1737 |
| Where: Sweden |
|
| Name Origin |
| German: kobalt or kobold (evil spirit); Greek: cobalos (mines). |
|
| Sources |
| Occurs in compounds with arsenic, oxygen and sulfur as in cobaltine (CoAsS) and linneite (Co3S4). |
|
| Uses |
| Used in many hard alloys; for magnets, ceramics and special glasses. Also used in permanent magnets, razor blades and catalitic converters. Cobalt-60 is used in cancer therapy. |
|
| Notes |
| Powdered cobalt in metal form is a fire hazard. Cobalt compounds should be handled with care due to cobalt's slight toxicity. |
| Cobalt in small amounts is essential to many living organisms, including humans. Having 0.13 to 0.30 mg/kg of cobalt in soils markedly improves the health of grazing animals. Cobalt is a central component of the vitamin cobalamin, or vitamin B-12. |
