Ceruloplasmin & Copper Blood Test: Normal Range?

Type the ceruloplasmin from your lab report — and the serum copper, if the same report prints it. You see each one against the adult ranges MedlinePlus, Mayo Clinic Laboratories, NIH ODS and Cedars-Sinai print, and what those sources say moves it. Your lab’s own range and your doctor have the last word.

Ceruloplasmin 30 mg/dL is

Inside all three printed ranges 30 mg/dL = 300 mg/L = 0.30 g/L

Ceruloplasmin 30 mg/dL: inside MedlinePlus’s 20–40 mg/dL for adults, inside Mayo Clinic Laboratories’ 20–51 mg/dL for women 18 and over, inside NIH ODS’s 18–40 mg/dL (ODS prints 180–400 mg/L; converted).

That is inside all the printed ranges. The range on your own lab report is the one your doctor reads it against.

MedlinePlus: “The results of a ceruloplasmin test alone cannot diagnose any conditions.”

What moves it, in the sources’ words

MedlinePlus: “Normal value ranges may vary slightly among different labs. Some labs use different measurements or may test different samples. Talk to your provider about the meaning of your specific test results.”
NIH ODS: “However, plasma CP and copper levels can be influenced by other factors, such as estrogen status, pregnancy, infection, inflammation, and some cancers”

The adult ranges the sources print
Source	Women	Men
Ceruloplasmin — MedlinePlus	20–40 mg/dL	20–40 mg/dL
Ceruloplasmin — Mayo Clinic Laboratories	20.0–51.0 mg/dL	19.0–31.0 mg/dL
Ceruloplasmin — NIH ODS	180–400 mg/L	180–400 mg/L
Copper — Mayo Clinic Laboratories	77–206 mcg/dL	73–129 mcg/dL
Copper — Cedars-Sinai	63–158 mcg/dL	63–158 mcg/dL
Copper — NIH ODS	10–25 µmol/L (63.5–158.9 mcg/dL)	10–25 µmol/L (63.5–158.9 mcg/dL)

This is not medical advice and it does not diagnose anything. It shows where a number sits against published ranges; what your result means for you depends on your lab, your other results, your history and your doctor.

Normal ceruloplasmin is about 20 to 40 mg/dL for adults on one common range. Others run 19.0 to 31.0 mg/dL for men and 20.0 to 51.0 mg/dL for women, or 180 to 400 mg/L (18 to 40 mg/dL). Serum copper runs about 73 to 129 mcg/dL for men and 77 to 206 for women on one range, or 63 to 158 on another. A ceruloplasmin test alone can’t diagnose any condition.

How to use it

Type the ceruloplasmin line from your lab report and say whether it’s printed in mg/dL, mg/L or g/L. If the same report prints a serum copper, type that too, in mcg/dL or µmol/L. Either result alone is enough. Pick the ranges for women or men.

You see where each number sits against the three adult ranges, the ranges drawn side by side, and what can raise or lower it. It doesn’t diagnose anything.

What ceruloplasmin and serum copper are

Ceruloplasmin is a copper-containing protein made in your liver. It stores copper and carries it through your blood to the parts of your body that need it, and it holds more than 95% of the total copper in healthy human plasma.

A copper blood test measures the total amount of copper in your blood. Since most of that is carried by ceruloplasmin, the two tests are usually ordered together.

The usual ranges

Adult ranges, as printed (converted figures in brackets)
Test and source	Women	Men
Ceruloplasmin — MedlinePlus	20–40 mg/dL (200–400 mg/L, 0.20–0.40 g/L)	20–40 mg/dL (200–400 mg/L, 0.20–0.40 g/L)
Ceruloplasmin — Mayo Clinic Laboratories	20.0–51.0 mg/dL (200–510 mg/L, 0.20–0.51 g/L)	19.0–31.0 mg/dL (190–310 mg/L, 0.19–0.31 g/L)
Ceruloplasmin — NIH ODS	180–400 mg/L (18–40 mg/dL, 0.18–0.40 g/L)	180–400 mg/L (18–40 mg/dL, 0.18–0.40 g/L)
Serum copper — Mayo Clinic Laboratories	77–206 mcg/dL (12.1–32.4 µmol/L)	73–129 mcg/dL (11.5–20.3 µmol/L)
Serum copper — Cedars-Sinai	63–158 mcg/dL (9.9–24.9 µmol/L)	63–158 mcg/dL (9.9–24.9 µmol/L)
Serum copper — NIH ODS	10–25 µmol/L (63.5–158.9 mcg/dL)	10–25 µmol/L (63.5–158.9 mcg/dL)

Normal ranges may vary slightly between labs, and this checker uses adult bands only. Ceruloplasmin’s units are plain mass per volume (1 mg/dL = 10 mg/L = 0.01 g/L), and copper’s µmol/L uses copper’s atomic weight, 63.546.

What lowers it

Long-term (chronic) liver disease
Trouble absorbing nutrients from food (intestinal malabsorption)
Malnutrition
Menkes syndrome, a disorder in which cells can absorb copper but can’t release it
Nephrotic syndrome, a group of disorders that damage the kidneys
Wilson disease, an inherited disorder with too much copper in the body’s tissues
Taking too many zinc supplements, which can affect how well your body can use copper

Low serum copper can go with malnutrition, hypoproteinemia, malabsorption, nephrotic syndrome, Menkes disease, copper toxicity and megadosing on zinc-containing vitamins, since zinc interferes with copper absorption from the gut. Overusing denture cream containing zinc can lower copper too.

A low number, or a normal one, doesn’t settle anything by itself. Ceruloplasmin is sometimes normal in Wilson disease, and values vary a lot from patient to patient, so that’s for your doctor to read, along with the other tests ordered beside it.

What raises it

Acute and chronic infections
Cancer (breast or lymphoma)
Heart disease, including heart attack
Overactive thyroid
Pregnancy
Rheumatoid arthritis
Birth control pills

High levels don’t always point to a condition that needs medical treatment. Pregnancy, birth control pills and certain medicines, including estrogen therapy for menopause, may raise it, and too much copper in your diet rarely does.

Copper itself can go up with pregnancy, birth control pills, infection, inflammation and stress, and corticosteroids and corticotropin can bring it down. A high serum copper doesn’t, by itself, mean copper toxicity. These ranges aren’t specific to pregnancy.

Zinc supplements and copper

People who regularly take high doses of zinc, or use a lot of zinc denture cream, can develop copper deficiency because zinc can block copper absorption. That’s one reason the adult upper limit for zinc is 40 mg a day.

The Nutrient Pairing Checker covers the zinc and copper pair, and the Vitamin & Mineral Dose Lookup shows the RDA and upper limit for your age (900 mcg of copper a day for adults, with an upper limit of 10,000 mcg). If you take zinc and your copper or ceruloplasmin came back low, tell the doctor who ordered the test what you take and how much.

Before the blood draw

You don’t need any special preparation. Do tell your doctor about all the medicines, herbs, vitamins and supplements you take.

Copper status is hard to read from blood. It isn’t routinely assessed in clinical practice, no biomarker that accurately and reliably assesses it has been identified, and plasma ceruloplasmin and copper can be influenced by estrogen status, pregnancy, infection, inflammation and some cancers.

Worked examples

30 mg/dL, woman (the page’s example): inside all three ceruloplasmin ranges.
19 mg/dL, man: under one range’s 20, inside the 19.0–31.0 for men and inside the 18–40 — inside 2 of the 3, since the ranges draw the line in different places.
45 mg/dL, woman: above two ranges’ 40, inside the 20.0–51.0 for women — inside 1 of the 3. Birth control pills and pregnancy can raise it.
0.3 g/L with a copper of 15 µmol/L (a lab outside the US): 30 mg/dL and 95.3 mcg/dL — both inside all three ranges.
Copper alone, 180 mcg/dL, woman: inside the 77–206 for women, above the 158 and the 158.9 on the other two — inside 1 of the 3.

Common mistakes

Mixing up mg/dL, mg/L and g/L. 30 mg/dL is 300 mg/L and 0.30 g/L. The checker flags a number that only makes sense in another unit.
Reading one number as a diagnosis. A ceruloplasmin test alone can’t diagnose any condition, and values can be in the normal range in some people with Wilson disease.
Treating high copper as copper poisoning. A high serum copper doesn’t, by itself, mean copper toxicity. Pregnancy and birth control pills raise it.
Forgetting the zinc. Zinc supplements and zinc denture creams lower copper.
Using a child’s result here. This checker reads adult ranges only, and children have separate bands.

Frequently asked questions

What is a ceruloplasmin test?

A blood test that measures the level of ceruloplasmin, the copper-containing protein, in your blood. You don’t need any special preparation.

What is a normal ceruloplasmin level?

Usually about 20 to 40 mg/dL for adults, though some ranges run 19.0 to 31.0 mg/dL for men and 20.0 to 51.0 for women 18 and over, or 180 to 400 mg/L. The range printed on your own report is the one your doctor uses.

What does low ceruloplasmin mean?

It can go with chronic liver disease, intestinal malabsorption, malnutrition, Menkes syndrome, nephrotic syndrome or Wilson disease, or with too many zinc supplements. A ceruloplasmin test alone can’t diagnose any condition, so your doctor reads it with the copper and other tests.

What does high ceruloplasmin mean?

It can go with infections, some cancers, heart disease, an overactive thyroid, pregnancy, rheumatoid arthritis and birth control pills, but high levels don’t always point to a condition that needs medical treatment.

What is a normal copper blood test result?

About 73 to 129 mcg/dL for men and 77 to 206 for women 18 and over on one range, 63 to 158 mcg/dL on another, or 10 to 25 µmol/L (63.5 to 158.9 mcg/dL).

Can zinc supplements lower copper?

Yes. People who regularly take high doses of zinc, or use a lot of zinc denture cream, can develop copper deficiency because zinc can block copper absorption. The adult upper limit for zinc is 40 mg a day.

What is the difference between ceruloplasmin and copper?

Copper is the mineral, and ceruloplasmin is the liver protein that carries most of it in your blood, over 95% of serum copper in normal adults. A copper blood test measures all of it, ceruloplasmin-bound or not.

More blood-test checkers: the Iron Panel Reader, the Ferritin Level Checker, the Transferrin Level Checker, the Vitamin B12 Level Checker and the Hemoglobin Level Checker. Which zinc form is in your bottle: the Iron, Zinc & Calcium Form Finder.

Ceruloplasmin & Copper Level Checker