What it is:
• Vanadium is a soft, silvery gray ductile transition metal found only in chemically combined form in nature.
• Vanadium was originally discovered by Mexican mineralogist Andrés Manuel del Río in 1801.
• Resistant to corrosion, vanadium is stable against alkalis, sulfuric and hydrochloric acids.
• The industrial compound vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) is used as a catalyst for the production of sulfuric acid.
• The four common oxidation states of vanadium are +2, +3, +4 and +5. Vanadium(II) compounds are reducing agents; vanadium(V) compounds are oxidizing agents.
• The main use of vanadium is to add strength, toughness and heat resistance to steel.

Occurrence:
• Metallic vanadium is not found in nature, but it occurs in about 65 different minerals and fossil fuel deposits.
• Vanadium is mined mostly in South Africa, northwestern China and eastern Russia.
• About 110,000 tons of vanadium are released into the atmosphere every year due to the burning of fossil fuels.
• Residues from the milling and mining of vanadium are often heaped on the ground or disposed of in landfills, where they are exposed to rainfall and groundwater drainage, possibly resulting in water contamination.

Health effects:
• Some studies suggest vanadium may reduce blood sugar levels and improve sensitivity to insulin in people with type 2 diabetes. However, other studies show that vanadium has no benefit on blood sugar levels.
• The element has been used as a dietary supplement for body-building, although its efficacy has not been proven.
• Vanadium compounds are poorly absorbed through the gastrointestinal system.
• A study published in Toxicological Sciences reported vanadium pentoxide to be carcinogenic to rats by inhalation.

Regulation:
• The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has recommended that 35 mg/m3 of vanadium be considered immediately dangerous to life and health.
• Vanadium appears on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Contaminant Candidate List 3 (CCL 3), which lists contaminants that are not yet subject to national primary drinking water regulations but may require regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Water treatment:
• Ion exchange has been proven to reduce vanadium levels in drinking water.

Sources: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Toxicological Sciences, University of Maryland Medical Center, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.