Trace element, also called a micronutrient, in biology, any chemical element required by living organisms in minute quantities (which is less than 0.1 percent by volume), usually as part of a vital enzyme.
The exact needs vary by species, but common plant trace elements include copper, boron, zinc, manganese, and molybdenum. Animals also require manganese, iodine, and cobalt. The lack of a necessary plant trace element in the soil causes deficiency diseases; The lack of animal trace elements in the soil cannot harm plants, but without them, animals that feed exclusively on those plants develop their own deficiency diseases.
The term trace element also appears in geology, where it is used to describe elements other than oxygen, silicon, aluminum, iron, calcium, sodium, potassium, and magnesium that are produced in tiny concentrations in rocks, that is, in concentrations less than 0.1 percent by weight. Trace element concentrations are typically expressed in parts per million.
Considering that a shortage of trace elements in the body can lead to stunted growth or even death, their presence in greater quantities is also detrimental. Also called trace metals.
In analytical chemistry, a trace element is one whose average concentration of less than 100 parts per million (ppm) is measured in atomic counts or less than 100 micrograms per gram.
In biochemistry, a trace element is a dietary element that is needed in very small amounts for proper growth, development, and the physiology of the body. For example, magnesium is a trace metal.
In geochemistry, a trace element is one whose concentration is less than 1000 ppm or 0.1% of the composition of a rock. The term is used primarily in igneous petrology. Tracking elements will be compatible with a liquid or solid phase. If it is compatible with a mineral, it will be incorporated into a solid phase (for example, nickel compatibility with olivine). If it is incompatible with any existing mineral phase, it will remain in the liquid magma phase.
