Modes of toxicity
Copper
Copper is a minor nutrient for both plants and animal at low concentrations and is toxic to aquatic life at concentrations approx.
The toxic effects of copper are avoided in living organism
By developing an active process for eliminating excess copper ingested in the diet
By reducing the thermodynamic activity of copper ions virtually to zero by using the metal only as a prosthetic element tightly bound to specific copper proteins
By the interaction between zinc and copper