Boron: An Overlooked Micronutrient that Plays an Important Role In Human Physiology

摘要

Despite having many important functions, boron is generally overlooked by most nutritionists. This is surprising since boron accounts for 17 mg kg-1 of the earth’s crust with soils ranging in content from 3-100 mg kg-1 [1]. While early research suggested a role for boron in bone development, it is now known to play a far more extensive role in human health [2,3]. Studies feeding high doses of boron to experimental animals suggested it may be toxic to reproductive development. Based on these studies, the EU established a no observed adverse level (NOEL) for intake by humans. Basaran and co-workers [4], however, examined 204 male workers exposed to high boron levels in a factory in Turkey. No reproductive toxicity biomarkers were observed in any of the male workers in spite of their high boron blood levels which averaged around 223.89+69.49 ng/g. Occupational exposure to high levels of boron did not appear to have any detrimental effects which confirms previous studies reported in China [5,6].