Water, Man and Lithium: An Ancient Relationship

The human body naturally contains lithium, and we all consume it daily, mainly through the liquids we drink. Discover the other side of this material that never ceases to amaze us.

Discreet but essential, lithium has been with us since the beginning of time — in rivers, groundwater, food and our bodies. It is this silent presence that reveals the extraordinary versatility of this material: capable of participating in the most delicate biological balances and, at the same time, playing a decisive role in technologies that shape the future.

Lithium is the thirtieth most abundant chemical element in the Earth's crust, accounting for around 0.002%. Since the formation of the Earth around 4.6 billion years ago, lithium has been easily dispersed throughout nature, benefiting from the small size, lightness and high solubility of its atoms.

These characteristics led to its presence in the oceans, where the first forms of life were born, containing dissolved lithium salts at a rate of 0.17 parts per million (ppm). After this primordial event, lithium eventually became present in all living beings.

Omnipresent element

The body of a 70 kg adult contains about 7 milligrams of lithium, which is mainly found in the brain, kidneys and bones. This amount remains constant, as what we consume is eliminated relatively quickly.

Gerhard Schrauzer, professor and researcher at the University of California, stated in his study entitled ‘Lithium: occurrence, dietary intakes, nutritional essentiality’ that an adult human needs to ingest about 1 mg per day, an amount that we end up consuming naturally through food and drink. According to Schrauzer, the biochemical mechanisms of lithium's action are interrelated with the functions of various enzymes, hormones and vitamins, as well as growth factors.

Like iron, zinc, copper, iodine and fluorine, lithium is considered a trace element (a class of micronutrients essential to humans, found in very small amounts in the body), although its functions are not yet fully understood. Its use in mental health therapies has been studied more extensively, a field that is still being researched on multiple fronts.

Lithium in the water we drink, and not only

When we drink water, we are probably ingesting a tiny amount of lithium.

The process of bottling and marketing natural mineral waters began in Europe in the mid-16th century, with the regions of Spa in Belgium and Vichy in France being good examples. About three centuries later, around 1860, techniques were developed to analyse the minerals dissolved in water, and it was discovered that lithium was present in many natural springs around the world.

A comprehensive study of groundwater used for public and domestic purposes in the US concluded that higher concentrations of lithium are typically found in groundwater in arid regions and older groundwater, and that natural factors such as local rock chemistry, climate and mixing with saline water directly influence the levels of lithium found.

Each natural water is unique in composition and taste, but not all contain lithium. Even if it is present, it is rarely indicated in the composition, as the content is generally much lower than that of magnesium, sodium and other elements.

Lithium is also common in other beverages. A study conducted in Germany in 2020 on 160 different beverages, such as red and white wine, cola-based drinks, energy drinks and beers, determined the presence of lithium in their composition, with levels ranging from 0.003 to 0.024 ppm.