Trace Minerals

Trace mineral tests are typically ordered individually to detect, evaluate, and monitor mineral deficiencies or excesses. A doctor may select one or more tests based upon what symptoms or underlying conditions a person has. Sometimes more than one test is ordered to detect a single deficiency or toxicity, such as ordering copper and ceruloplasmin together to evaluate the amount of copper in the body, or ordering a group of iron tests (iron, total iron binding capacity, and ferritin) and a CBC (Complete Blood Count) to evaluate iron deficiency as a potential cause of anemia.

If a person has general malnutrition or a condition associated with malabsorption, then a doctor may order several trace mineral tests together for an initial evaluation and then order one or more tests periodically to monitor the person’s nutritional status and/or the effectiveness of treatment.

If someone has an inherited condition that leads to excess concentrations of a mineral or has been exposed to toxic concentrations, then a test for that mineral may be ordered to help detect and diagnose the condition and then ordered at intervals to monitor the person’s condition.

Blood tests are used in most cases to evaluate trace minerals, but some tests may be ordered on a 24-hour urine sample. In cases where minerals are being stored in tissues or organs, a test may be ordered on a biopsy sample to help diagnose and evaluate the severity of the condition.

With the possible exception of an iron test, trace mineral tests are not routinely ordered on the general population.

Trace mineral tests are ordered whenever a mineral deficiency or excess is suspected due to medical history or signs and symptoms that may be present. Deficiencies in trace minerals can cause a range of symptoms, depending on the mineral(s) that are lacking. Symptoms may include:

• Anemia
• Diarrhea
• Hair loss
• Goiter
• Muscle weakness

In children, deficiencies can cause congenital abnormalities, delay growth, and affect mental development and sexual maturation.

Acute and chronic excesses of trace minerals can cause symptoms associated with toxicity that may range from mild to severe. They can cause:

• Skin rash
• Nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea
• Seizures
• Peripheral neuropathy
• In severe cases, it may result in kidney and liver failure, shock, coma, and an increased risk of lung cancer.

One or more may be ordered periodically to monitor the status of a person with an underlying condition that can cause malabsorption or cause the buildup of an excess trace mineral.

In general, low concentrations of a mineral indicate a deficiency and high concentrations indicate an excess. When a person is being treated for a deficiency, then increasing levels and a decrease in symptoms indicate a response to treatment. When a person is being treated for mineral toxicity, then decreasing levels and a decrease in symptoms indicate a response to treatment.

Trace mineral results must, however, be interpreted with some degree of caution. Some treatments for excess mineral can actually increase blood and urine concentrations temporarily and some minerals, such as copper and zinc, may be temporarily increased by infection, inflammation, pregnancy, and a variety of diseases. Many of the symptoms associated with trace mineral deficiencies and excesses may also be seen with a variety of other conditions. The doctor will interpret findings in conjunction with the person’s symptoms and clinical history.

Trace minerals are found in varying concentrations in a wide variety of foods. Some forms of the mineral are more “bioavailable” from an animal than a plant source, such as heme-iron versus non-heme iron. Some minerals have been added to foods to make them more readily available, such as “fortified” grains and cereals, fluoridated water, and iodized salt.