Iron losses in sweat.
The losses of iron in whole body cell-free sweat were determined in eleven healthy men. A new experimental design was used with a very careful cleaning procedure of the skin and repeated consecutive sampling periods of sweat in a sauna. The purpose was to achieve a steady state of sweat iron losses with minimal influence from iron originating from desquamated cells and iron contaminating the skin. A steady state was reached in the third sauna period (second sweat sampling period). Iron loss was directly related to the volume of sweat lost and amounted to 22.5 micrograms iron/l sweat. The findings indicate that iron is a physiological constituent of sweat and derived not only from contamination. Present results imply that variations in the amount of sweat lost will have only a marginal effect on the variation in total body iron losses.
D000328:Adult; D005293:Ferritins / Q000032:analysis; D006454:Hemoglobins; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D007504:Iron Radioisotopes; D008297:Male; D029002:Steam Bath; D013542:Sweat / Q000032:analysis*; D014168:Transferrin / Q000032:analysis
D006454:Hemoglobins; D007504:Iron Radioisotopes; D014168:Transferrin; D005293:Ferritins; D007501:Iron