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Iron

المؤلف:  Sue Jickells , Adam Negrusz (Editors)

المصدر:  Clarkes Analytical Forensic Toxicology

الجزء والصفحة:  106

2026-09-23

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Iron

Iron is widespread in nature and is found in rocks and minerals and in a wide variety of food stuffs. It is essential to the functioning of the body. Accidental or suicidal ingestion of iron preparations in adults is rare, but poisoning is commonly seen in young children after the accidental ingestion of iron tablets. Over-the counter products contain various iron salts (sulfate, fumarate, gluconate) and many are slow-release preparations The amount of elemental iron in a particular brand of tablet can range from 35 to 105 mg, which makes assess ment of the actual dose of iron ingested very difficult. Serious toxicity after acute ingestion is generally seen at doses of more than 60 mg elemental iron/kg body mass. Fatalities are common when the ingested dose of iron is above 200 mg/kg body mass. The clinical presentation of iron poisoning and its time course can be quite complex, particularly when dealing with young children or babies. Reference ranges for serum iron are dependent on age and sex, with typical values in the range of 0.6–2.2 mg/L for men and 0.3–1.9 mg/L for women. A serum iron concentration above 5 mg/L on initial presentation is an indication of potentially serious toxicity and the need to consider active intervention, e.g. chelation therapy. Serum ion concentrations of 2.8–25.5 mg/L have been reported in children who survived the ingestion of up to 10 g of ferrous sulfate (Baselt 2002).