Abstract

The shadowy element Tellurium (Te) belongs to the group of chalcogens, the same group of other elements of biological importance such as oxygen and sulfur. It was described early in 1782 by Franz Joseph Mueller. Curiously, although its name derives from the Latin word tellum, meaning “earth,” tellurium abundance in the Earth’s crust is rather low (∼0.027 ppm). On the other hand and unlike its closely related element selenium, tellurium seems unrelated to biological systems to date (Cunha et al. 2009).