Iodized Salt Between Myth and Reality: Assessment of Iodine Content in Table Salt Commercially Available in Romania

Abstract

About 1/3 of the world population lives in areas where iodine is scarce. The easiest solution to provide an organism with adequate iodine doses is the iodization of table salt, a process implemented in about 120 countries. Romanian laws require the iodization of salt used for human consumption. The purpose of our study is to assess the iodine concentration of various table salt brands commercially available in Romania, from different countries – Ukraine, Belarus, Greece, Italy, Turkey, Austria, to see if they comply with accepted standards and compare them with those in our country. An iodometric titration method was used for analyzing the iodine content of the salt samples. The analysis of the samples indicate that a great proportion do not meet accepted standards regarding iodine concentration.