Journal
ANNALS OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Volume 1446, Issue 1, Pages 21-43Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/nyas.13993
Keywords
micronutrients; upper limits; toxicity; children; pregnancy; adverse effects
Categories
Funding
- Evidence and Programme Guidance Unit, Department of Nutrition for Health and Development of the World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, Switzerland
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Excessive micronutrient intake causes a variety of adverse health effects, depending on dose and duration. The risk of excess intake carries significant implications for micronutrient delivery interventions, particularly when such programs are overlapping. To minimize risk and provide public health guidance, several countries and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations/World Health Organization have set upper intake levels (ULs) for various life-stage populations using the risk assessment framework. However, there is a lack of international consensus on the actual ULs due to variability in application of this framework and a scarcity of evidence from which to draw upon, especially for children. Often ULs for children are established through a downward weight-based extrapolation from adult ULs, which is not always appropriate. The published ULs of nine organizations are compared, recent population nutrient intake evidence is presented, and the toxic effects of key minerals and vitamins are reviewed. Finally, the evidence for toxicity and setting of ULs for each nutrient is discussed including a comment on our degree of confidence in the strength of existing individual ULs. Challenges with risk assessment and opportunities for strengthening the definition of ULs are discussed.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available