Dietary intakes of essential trace elements: Results from total diet studies supported by the IAEA

Summary The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has, for many years, supported research on human dietary intakes of trace elements taking advantage, for analysis, of the possibilities offered by nuclear techniques, particularly neutron activation analysis (NAA). This paper summarizes the results obtained from studies in more than 20 countries in which special emphasis was placed on the application of reliable methodologies (written protocols, special equipment, analytical quality control, etc.). Considerable variation was observed among dietary intakes of essential minor and trace elements though most elements showed a pattern of adequate nutrition in most countries. However, for some elements such as calcium, iodine, iron and zinc, the intakes in many countries were lower than the dietary requirements.