Table 1 Characteristics of the three main sources of iron for controlling iron deficiency anemia.

From: Iron-fortified water: a new approach for reducing iron deficiency anemia in resource-constrained settings

OS (−)

Iron source

Solubility

RBA (%)

Comments

0

Iron powders

Very low soluble

75

Unknown corrosion

0

Iron ingots

Very low soluble

n.a

Unknown corrosion

II

Fe(II) sulfate

Highly soluble

100

Least expensive

II

Fe(II) chloride

Highly soluble

50

Not stable in air

III

Fe(III) ammonium citrate

soluble

51

Soluble, not bioavailable

III

Fe(III) pyrophosphate

Very low soluble

43

Unknown dissolution, not bioavailable

  1. The most readily available iron sources are selected with two per state of oxidation (oxidation state—OS). RBA stands for the relative bioavailability, RBA is related to the solubility in 0.1 N HCl (Harrison et al. (1976) cited by Kumari and Chauhan4).
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