What Is a Normal Iron Level Range?
Normal iron level range is 75 to 175 micrograms per deciliter for adult males, 65 to 165 micrograms per deciliter for adult females, 50 to 120 micrograms per deciliter for children, and 100 to 250 micrograms per deciliter for newborns, according to TheFreeDictionary.com. These values indicate the amount of iron in the blood serum and are measured by an iron level test.
An iron level test is used to diagnose different types of anemia, assess the severity of anemia, evaluate malnutrition, check for liver disorders, check for chronic gastrointestinal bleeding, and check for iron poisoning and other unusual disorders. Iron levels above 350 to 500 micrograms per deciliter are toxic, and levels over 1000 micrograms per deciliter are poisonous, as reports TheFreeDictionary.com. Blood transfusions, recent high stress levels and sleep deprivation are reasons for postponing iron tests. Iron tests are done early in the morning.
There are three other tests commonly used to measure iron levels: total iron-binding capacity tests, ferritin tests and transferrin tests, as states TheFreeDictionary.com. All tests use a venipuncture to withdraw the patient’s blood. Both the TIBC test and the transferrin test use transferrin to measure iron in the body. The transferrin test measures transferrin levels directly, while the TIBC test measure how much iron is in the blood when transferrin in the blood is fully saturated. The ferritin test measures the amount of ferritin in the blood.
