What is copper?

When you think of a blood test you don’t think of copper, but many complete blood screenings measure copper levels. If a patient shows symptoms of Wilson disease, a total copper test is ordered. If the copper test shows abnormal levels it could be indicative of the disease, further detailed blood tests, including ceruloplasmin level are ordered. Some doctors order the ceruloplasmin test with the copper test initially.

Patients with fatigue, anemia, pain in the abdomen, and jaundice could be suffering from a multitude of conditions, thus blood tests are ordered to give the doctor a better look at what could be causing the problems. In the case of copper, these are all symptoms of Wilson disease, which would cause abnormal copper values.

Normal value range

• Negative Pregnancy Adult: 70 to 140 µg/dL (=700-1440 µg/L) or 11 to 22 µmol/L
• Pregnancy Trimester One: 112 to 199 µg/dL (=1120-1990 µg/L) or 18 to 31 µmol/L
• Pregnancy Trimester Two: 165 to 221 µg/dL (=1650-2210 µg/L) or 26 to 35 µmol/L
• Pregnancy Trimester Three: 130 to 240 µg/dL (=1300-2440 µg/L) or 21 to 38 µmol/L