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Vitamin and Mineral Toxicities in Adults
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Judy A. Driskell, Extension Foods and Nutrition Specialist

Our bodies need vitamins and essential minerals. And, like other things, if taken in large amounts, vitamins and minerals can adversely affect health. Large amounts of anything can be toxic.

Nutritional Status

People can have deficient, adequate, or toxic intakes of any essential nutrient. A deficiency occurs when the intake of the essential nutrient is too low to meet a person's need for that specific nutrient. Adequacy occurs when a person gets enough, but not too much, of a nutrient. Nutrient toxicity occurs when you get an overdose of a given nutrient.

Causes of Nutrient Toxicities

Most nutrient toxicities don't occur from dietary intakes of foods. Vitamin toxicities usually come from taking high potency vitamin supplements. Most mineral toxicities are a result of inhalation.

Much of the data on adverse health effects from taking large amounts of a vitamin or mineral pertain to acute rather than chronic use. Because nutrients work together, consuming excessive amounts of one nutrient can cause a deficiency of another.

There is no evidence that low levels of vitamin-mineral supplements adversely affect health. This topic is discussed in a recent NebFact, "Vitamin-Mineral Supplements and Their Usage by Adults."

Table 1. Vitamin and Mineral Toxicities in Adults

Nutrient 1989 RDAa Men/Women U.S. RDAb Lowest Reported
Toxic Dose (adults)c		 Symptoms of Toxicity (mild and severe)
Vitamin A
(preformed)		 1000/800 mcg RE 5000 IU or 1000 mcg RE 6000 RE Headache, vomiting, diplopia, alopecia, dryness of mucous membranes, dermatitis, anemia, insomnia, bone abnormalities, bone and joint pain, hepatomegaly, liver damage, hypercalcemia, hyperlipemia, menstrual irregularities, spontaneous abortions, and birth defects.
Vitamin D 5/5 mcg 400 IU or 10 mcg 45 mcg Nausea, vomiting, excessive thirst and urination, muscular weakness, joint pain, hypercalcemia, disorientation, and irreversible calcification of heart, lungs, kidneys, and other soft tissues.
Vitamin E 10/8 mg -TE 30 IU or 20 mg -TE Unknown Exacerbation of the coagulation defect produced by vitamin K deficiency caused by either malabsorption or anticoagulant therapy.
Vitamin K 80/65 mcg None Unknown Menadione (vitamin K3) but not phylloquinone (vitamin K1) causes hemolytic anemia, liver damage, and, in newborns, kernicterus.
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) 60/60 mg 60 mg 4 g Nausea, diarrhea, kidney stones, mobilization of bone minerals, systematic conditioning to high intakes, and abortion.

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