Cobalt-60 Nuclear Generating Station. The cobalt targets are substituted here for a small number of fuel assemblies. After entering a living mammal (such as a human being), some of the is excreted in feces. The remainder is taken up by tissues, mainly the liver, kidneys, and bones, where the prolonged exposure to gamma radiation can cause cancer. Over time, the absorbed cobalt is eliminated in urine. Cobalt is an element used to make steel. Uncontrolled disposal of in scrap metal is responsible for the radioactivity found in several iron-based products. In August 2012, Petco recalled several models of steel pet food
Cobalt blue Cobalt blue Cobalt blue is a blue pigment made by sintering cobalt(II) oxide with alumina at 1200 °C. Chemically, cobalt blue pigment is cobalt(II) oxide-aluminium oxide, or cobalt(II) aluminate, CoAlO. Cobalt blue is lighter and less intense than the (iron-cyanide based) pigment Prussian blue. It is extremely stable and has historically been used as a coloring agent in ceramics (especially Chinese porcelain), jewelry, and paint. Transparent glasses are tinted with the silica-based cobalt pigment smalt. Cobalt blue in impure forms had long been used in Chinese porcelain, but it was independently discovered as a pure alumina-based pigment by Louis Jacques