Background/Objectives: Trace minerals (TMs), both essential and toxic, are integral to hu-

Overview

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Key numbers

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previously considered insurmountable (6). Such advancements enable the routine determi-
array of cellular and systemic processes essential for health (Table 1). Some of these
Table 1. Essential trace mineral functions and mechanisms in the body.
According to the World Health Organization, anemia affects over 30% of women of re-
Table 2. Mechanisms of toxicity of selected toxic trace elements.
neurotransmitter dysfunction, protein aggregation, and epigenetic alterations. Table 3
Table 3. Trace metals involved in neurodegenerative disease mechanisms.
(approximately 68% of the global population) do not consume adequate amounts of I,
reproductive age, 66% are deficient in one or more key nutrients such as Fe, folate, and I,
importance of targeted public health interventions and policies (Table 4).
Table 4. Comparative overview of trace mineral challenges and the role of serum analysis across
contribute to approximately 7% of the global disease burden annually. According to
(approximately 75%) reside in South and East Asia, the Pacific, and sub-Saharan Africa,
diet. The FAO’s 2024 report reveals that over 70% of people in low-income countries cannot
average requirement, which is the level sufficient to meet the needs of nearly all (97–98%)
The primary biomarkers available for essential TMs are summarized in Table 5. Un-
Table 5. Biomarkers for essential trace minerals.
For toxic elements (Table 6), the biomarkers of exposure often include measurements
Table 7. There is also a closely linked need to understand the biological variability in
Table 7. Levels of essential trace and toxic elements in serum in recent studies. Values are presented
1. O’Neill, L.M.; Dwyer, J.T.; Bailey, R.L.; Reidy, K.C.; Saavedra, J.M. Harmonizing micronutrient intake reference ranges for dietary
1. Higuera, J.M.; Santos, H.M.; Oliveira, A.F.; Nogueira, A.R.A. Animal and vegetable protein burgers: Bromatological analysis,

Methods (brief)

tion using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Results: Serum was
Copyright: © 2025 by the authors. health; ICP-MS
nation of TM status in populations directly from biological samples, particularly serum.
questionnaires, where the consumption data collected are combined with tabulated data on
correction for urinary creatinine in spot samples to account for dilution-related variability.
especially when a fasting serum sample is already being collected for other analyses, and
element techniques such as ICP-MS (183).
sensitivity multi-element techniques but also in its practicality: serum samples are routinely
collected in clinical settings and can be processed using protocols already established for
(inorganic, MMA 1 , DMA 2 )
1 MMA: monomethylarsonic acid; 2 DMA: dimethylarsenic acid; 8-OHdG: 8-hydroxy-2′ deoxyguanosine.
the principle of atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), which enabled the quantitative
determination of metal ions in biological samples for the first time (194). Despite this
milestone, early applications of AAS and conventional spectrophotometry were limited
with the advent of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), a multi-
The use of ICP-MS has expanded greatly in epidemiological and clinical research, enabling
In addition to analytical instrumentation, proper sample collection and handling
The future of ICP-MS looks promising, with ongoing advancements enhancing its sen-

Implications

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Update history

The five most recent substantive edits to this page, classified major (evidence or structure moved), correction (a published value or statement was wrong and has been fixed), or minor (narrative rewritten without changing the underlying evidence). Each description is derived from what the edit did to this page; the linked commit is the authoritative record, routine regeneration passes are excluded, and the full version history lives in git. When DOI minting comes online (see schema docs), each entry below will also link to a version-pinned DataCite DOI.

Commit	Date	Change	Description
b01ec52c	2026-08-04	major	2 sections added
d49e450f	2026-08-03	major	5 sections added; narrative text revised