Chromium is the 24th element on the periodic chart, situated between vanadium and manganese, and has an atomic weight of 52. Chromium is the 13th most abundant element in the Earth’s crust at about 400 ppm.
Chromium may occur in several valent states : • Metallic form (valent state 0) • Trivalent form (Cr III) and • Hexavalent form (Cr VI). Trivalent chromium (Cr III) occurs naturally in the environment. It is an essential nutrient required by the human body to promote the action of insulin in body tissues so that glucose, protein and fat can be used (1,2,3). Cases of chromium deficiency resulting in impaired glucose tolerance have been reported, which have been corrected by an addition of chromium to the daily diet. As Trivalent chromium (Cr III) is an essential nutrient, a daily intake of 50 to 500 µg of Cr III is recommended for adults. Even if present in very large amounts, trivalent chromium (Cr III) has very little toxic effect. Chromium as a pure metal has no adverse effect.
Both acute and chronic toxicity from chromium are mainly caused by hexavalent chromium compounds (Cr VI). If taken orally, soluble hexavalent chromium would be reduced to the desirable trivalent chromium before being absorbed in the small intestine. In the case of stainless steel utensils or food process equipment, any chromium released from the cooking processes will be in the trivalent state and no toxicity is to be expected. Not only it is non toxic but it can be beneficial to health.