Nutrients
Cobalt
Co
Included in Complete.
Compare membershipsVitamin B12 is built around cobalt.
Cobalt is a trace element best known as part of vitamin B12, which your body needs to make red blood cells and keep nerves healthy. Everyone carries trace amounts, mostly from food.
Cobalt and vitamin B12 tell you different things.
Your body gets the cobalt it needs through vitamin B12 in foods like meat, fish, eggs, and dairy. A blood cobalt result doesn't measure your B12 status, so your vitamin B12 result is the one to look at for that.
Higher cobalt is usually linked to exposure, for example from some supplements, hard-metal manufacturing work, or certain metal hip implants. Clinicians use blood cobalt to help monitor people with these implants. Outside these situations, research on what small differences mean is limited.
Questions
What does a higher cobalt result mean?
It may reflect recent exposure from supplements, work, or a metal joint implant. Your clinician will ask about these and look at your other results. If you have a metal-on-metal hip implant, it's worth sharing your result with the team that follows it.
Does a normal cobalt result mean my B12 is fine?
No. Cobalt and vitamin B12 are separate tests. Your vitamin B12 result, along with your blood count, gives a clearer picture of B12 status.