REEVALUATION OF THE TRACE-ELEMENT CONTENT IN REFERENCE MAN

Using recent analytical data, the total body content of several trace elements for the 70 kg Reference Man has been reevaluated. The evaluat ion leads to the following conclusions. For Al, Ba, Cu and F, the pres ent estimates show an increase; for Br, Cs, I, Pb and Zn the average v alues for the total body content derived from the present evaluation h ave remained close to the 1975 estimates; for As, Cd and Rb, the total contents have declined; for B, Co and Mn the uncertainty of the 1975 evaluations have been reduced; and for Au and Cr the 1997 estimations are far below the 1975 estimates. Provisional estimates for Ni (4-6.5 mg), Se (14-21 mg) and Si (2000-3000 mg) are proposed for the first ti me. With respect to dietary intakes, in contrast to the earlier estima tes intakes of trace elements were found to be decreased by factors of 2 for Cu, 2-5 for Cr, 5-10 for Cd, Hg and Pb, and > 10 for Ag, As, Co , Li, Sb and V. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.