Assessment of iodine content in Brazilian duplicate portion diets and in table salt

Excess dietary intake may increase the risk for the hyperthyroidism in the elderly. This study investigated iodine dietary intake by epithermal neutron activation analysis (ENAA) analyzing duplicate portion diet and fortified table salt samples. Duplicate diet samples were obtained from a group of twenty-five steel mill workers from the city of São Paulo, over a 3-day period. The samples were freeze dried, mixed and homogenized. Fortified table salt brands were collected from the market and were analyzed with no pre-treatment. Assays for the iodine concentration in the table salt samples revealed values between 24 to 65 mg/kg. The average iodine daily intake for the worker’s diets was 813 μg/day, ranging from 402 to 1363 μg/day. In some cases daily intakes were around 10 times higher than the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) value (150 μg/day).