Herein, we used Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) to quantify Cu in a range of plant and animal based food samples, as well as a chlorinated tap water sample.Wesubsequently used X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) to identify cuprous and cupric forms present in these samples. Fitting the spectra with an array of Cu model compounds has enabled us to predict the likely coordination environments of the species present.