can overdosing on iron kill you?

Question

I was just wondering if you took too many iron pills, would it kill you, or do anything negative? And if it could kill you, how much would be considered a fatal overdose?

i'm not trying to kill myself. I just want to know if it's dangerous to take too much iron? Would anything negative happen? Could you possibly die from it? If you could what would be the fatal amount?

Answer 1

YES. If too much iron is taken, you will have iron toxicity.

Iron is an extremely corrosive substance to the Gastrointestinal tract. It acts on the mucosal tissues and can cause bleeding and diarrhea; patients may become in over dehydrated because of fluid and blood loss.

The absorption of excessive quantities of ingested iron results in systemic iron toxicity which can result in cellular death. The liver is one of the organs most affected by iron toxicity, but other organs such as the heart, kidneys, lungs, and the hematologic systems also may be impaired.

Individuals demonstrate signs of Gastrointestinal tract toxicity with ingestions of more than 20 mg/kg, but less than or equal to 40 mg/kg. Moderate-to-severe intoxication occurs when ingestion of elemental iron exceeds 40 mg/kg. Ingestions exceeding 60 mg/kg may be lethal.

Answer 2

Please read this article.

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ap/rt/2002/00000036/00000003/art01577

Remember:
FeSO4 had an LD50 of 1.1 g Fe/kg and was approximately 45 times more toxic than carbonyl Fe, which had an LD50 greater then 50 g Fe/kg. NaFeEDTA had an LD50 of 1.3 g Fe/kg and, when compared with FeSO4, had approximately the same level of toxicity.

LD50 Definition:
LD stands for lethal dose. LD50 is the amount of a material, given all at once, which causes the death of 50% (one half) of a group of test animals. The LD50 can be determined for any route of entry, but dermal (applied to skin) and oral (given by mouth) LD50's are most common. The LD50 is one measure of the short-term poisoning potential of a material. (See also LC50.)
Source:
ccinfoweb.ccohs.ca/help/msds/msdstermse.html

Answer 3

Are you trying to kill yourself? If so man, get some help asap. And if you took some iron pills and are worried try calling poison control.

Answer 4

Iron can kill you if you ingest too much.

40mg per kilograms of body weight is potentially serious.

More than 60mg per kg of body weight is potentially lethal.

(These figures are for elemental iron.)

Answer 5

iron excess:
-hemochromatosis: excessive iron accumulation in spleen, liver, pancreas and skin. caused by excessive intestinal absorbtion of iron due to genetic disorder. there is diabetes mellitus and bronze pigmentation of skin hence it is also known as bronze diabetes.
-hemosiderosis: excessive iron accumulation in tissues due to high dietary intake (eg. in the african bantu tribes) or repeated blood transfusions.

Answer 6

an iron overdose will occur over time and not immediately.

Answer 7

Yes! It's especially fatal for children. That is why most children's vitamins have very little or none in them.

Answer 8

you can take too much iron, and it can harm you, if you , or someone you know has taken too much iron please call your local poison control center and tell them, they can advise you what to do.

Answer 9

It can clot your blood which could lead to further damage but i wouldn't try it.

Answer 10

dude you take too much of things