This committee is not currently active.
OBJECTIVE
The goal of the ILSI North America Project Committee on Tolerable Upper Levels was to explore scientific questions on the development and appropriate applications of Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (ULs) to better understand how they might affect public health.
BACKGROUND
Dietary Reference Intakes recently established by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academies of Science include reference values for ULs. These reference values define the highest daily intake that is likely to pose no risk of adverse health effects for almost all individuals in the general population.
The UL is meant to reduce the disease risks from excessive intakes of individual micronutrients. The scientific approach used to determine the UL for essential nutrients, however, was a standard toxicological practice typically used to determine safe levels for toxic chemicals. This approach may not be entirely applicable for nutrients.
Intakes of some micronutrients, such as folic acid, zinc, and niacin, by certain subpopulations currently exceed the UL. Because other subpopulations consume less than optimal intakes, there is a delicate trade-off between “at risk” for excessive intake of these nutrients and “nutrient deficiency.” The committee strongly believed that this situation warranted further study.
Workshop
The committee organized a two-day workshop at which the scientific experts thoroughly examined these issues by reviewing the methods used to set the ULs as well as their appropriate applications. Proceedings from the workshop were publsihed in the February 2006 issue of The Journal of Nutrition.
Publication: "Understanding Tolerable Upper Intake Levels"
The supplement includes articles describing the science behind the philosophy and methods for deriving upper tolerable intake levels (ULs); how public health can best be served by the use of upper levels; and research needs for advancing the science that is used to establish the upper levels.
- "Introduction," L Berner and M Levine
- "Setting Tolerable Upper Intake Levels for Nutrients," I Munro
- "Toxicology of Micronutrients: Adverse Effects and Uncertainty," AG Renwick
- "A Critical Assessment of thge Upper Intake Levels for Infants and Children," S Zlotkin
- "Evaluation of Dietary Intake Data Using the Tolerable Upper Intake Levels," A Carriquiry and G. Camaño-Garcia
- "Gap Analysis Guidelines for Assessing Acute, Chronic and Lifetime Exposures to High Levels of Various Nutrients," J Vanderveen
- "Discussion: Gaps and Suggestions," L Berner and M Levine