Three readings together
Copper present in the tissues but not bound for use, beside a sodium/potassium ratio below ideal
The pattern workbook combines a low Na/K ratio, biounavailable copper and a Ca/Mg ratio that is either high or low. ARL ties the first two together through one protein made in the liver.
The pattern workbook Eileen reads charts against defines the Copper Lock as occurring to a greater extent when a low sodium/potassium (Na/K) ratio is combined with biounavailable copper, and when problems with carbohydrate metabolism are identified by either a high or a low calcium/magnesium (Ca/Mg) ratio. In the workbook's wording, the pattern occurs to a greater extent as the three readings combine. ARL's Glossary names a low Ca/Mg with a low Na/K a double inversion.
The Na/K ideal is 2.4 (Trace Elements) to 2.5 (Analytical Research Labs, ARL), and ARL's Glossary of Terms defines an Na/K inversion as any Na/K below 2.5. The Ca/Mg ideal is 6.67 (ARL) to 7 (Trace Elements, 2010).
ARL's Glossary defines a nutrient as bio-unavailable when it is present in the body but cannot be used, and records that any higher than normal mineral level on a hair analysis may represent an impaired ability to use that mineral. ARL and Trace Elements both record that copper is used when bound to a transport protein, mainly ceruloplasmin. ARL adds the adrenal link: ceruloplasmin is made in the liver under adrenal stimulation, so with weak adrenal activity less ceruloplasmin is made, and unbound copper accumulates in tissue while the copper-dependent enzymes go unserved.
ARL's Introduction to Copper Toxicity records the result: excessive tissue storage of unbound copper with a deficiency of available copper, even when dietary intake is more than adequate.
The Eck Institute's document on a low Na/K ratio lists hidden copper toxicity among the meanings of an inversion: proper copper binding requires strong adrenal activity, and as adrenal activity weakens, copper accumulates in the tissues. ARL ties sodium to aldosterone and potassium to cortisol, and reads a low Na/K as the exhaustion side of that balance.
The workbook's three readings therefore sit on one mechanism: the low Na/K reads weak adrenal activity, weak adrenal activity lowers ceruloplasmin, and lower ceruloplasmin leaves copper biounavailable. ARL's 1992 infection document records that the slow oxidizer has biologically unavailable copper despite elevated hair levels, while the fast oxidizer is commonly copper-deficient.
Copper can read high, low or within range. ARL reads a hair copper below 1.0 mg% as hidden copper toxicity rather than simple deficiency, because the copper is not being released from storage. ARL's documents place copper imbalance at copper above 2.5, 3.0 or 3.5 mg% depending on the document, against an ideal of 2.5 mg%. ARL's trend table reads a zinc/copper (Zn/Cu) ratio above 16 as a severe copper deficiency or bio-unavailability trend, with the Zn/Cu ideal at 8 at both labs.
ARL also uses calcium as a copper reading: hidden copper toxicity must be considered if calcium is over about 80 mg% or potassium is below 4 mg%. Trace Elements records that copper increases the tissue retention of calcium.
A 1987 ARL document lists the same three readings with numbers as an immune-response trend pattern: an Na/K less than 2.3, copper less than 1.0 or greater than 10.0 mg%, and a Ca/Mg greater than 12 or less than 3.3. ARL's 1992 infection document reads an increasing infection-tendency trend on the mineral pattern as the Na/K falls, and records that available copper inhibits infectious processes while circulating iron favors them.
For the carbohydrate reading, ARL's Fatigue document (1993) reads a Ca/Mg less than 3.3 or greater than 10 as a carbohydrate intolerance trend, and ARL's trend table reads 12 and above and 1 to 3.3 as diabetes trends.
| Reading | Workbook condition | ARL numeric line | Ideal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Na/K | Low | Less than 2.3 (1987); inversion below 2.5 | 2.4 to 2.5 |
| Copper | Biounavailable | Less than 1.0 or greater than 10.0 mg% (1987); Zn/Cu above 16 | 2.5 mg%; Zn/Cu 8 |
| Ca/Mg | High or low | Greater than 12 or less than 3.3 (1987); under 3.3 or over 10 (1993) | 6.67 to 7 |
The workbook describes the underlying state as too little bound copper and too much unbound copper at the same time, caused by a deficiency of ceruloplasmin and related to iron metabolism. It lists the roles bound copper serves: energy production, the female reproductive system, the nervous system, immune response, the glandular system, and bones and connective tissue.
ARL lists copper's functions in energy production in the electron transport system, iron incorporation into hemoglobin, calcium retention in bone and collagen cross-linking.
A hair tissue mineral analysis is a screening test for nutritional and toxic-element patterns. It reports tissue mineral levels and ratios; it is not a diagnosis, it does not establish a cause, and it does not measure what is circulating in blood today. Each mineral reading reflects roughly 2 to 3 months of hair growth, and a retest 3 to 5 months later shows the direction of change. Where the laboratory literature describes a trend, that trend belongs to the mineral pattern rather than to any person reading about it.
The Na/K comes first, against 2.4 to 2.5 and ARL's 2.3 line. Then copper: the level against 2.5 mg% and 1.0 mg%, the Zn/Cu ratio against 8 and 16, and the calcium against 80 mg%.
Next: the Ca/Mg against 6.67 to 7, in both directions, against the 3.3 and 12 lines. The oxidation rate from Ca/K and Na/Mg is read last.
A low sodium/potassium ratio combined with biounavailable copper, with carbohydrate metabolism readings shown by a Ca/Mg ratio that is either high or low, as the pattern workbook defines it.
Copper present in the tissues but not bound for use. ARL and Trace Elements both name ceruloplasmin as the main copper transport protein, and ARL records that the liver makes it under adrenal stimulation.
Yes. ARL reads a hair copper below 1.0 mg% as hidden copper toxicity, because the copper is not being released from storage. It can also read high.
The workbook counts either a high or a low Ca/Mg as the carbohydrate reading. ARL's 1987 numbers for the same combination are a Ca/Mg greater than 12 or less than 3.3.
A full hair tissue mineral analysis reports the Na/K and Ca/Mg ratios with the copper and zinc levels and the Zn/Cu ratio, which are the readings that identify biounavailable copper beside a low Na/K.
Published 2026-11-13 · Updated 2026-11-13
By Eileen Durfee — Practitioner, NBS (Nutritional Balancing Science), NASM-CPT; wellness educator, inventor and author.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Hair tissue mineral analysis is a screening test and is not diagnostic. This article is for educational purposes only. Wellness Shopping Online is operated by Nuco Enterprise Solutions LLC.
