Goat Minerals
Minerals are perhaps the single most important nutritional component to ensure health and vigor. Let’s... View more
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Reply To: General Mineral Discussion
Saving this one for later. I can’t wait to dig into it. 😁
Mineral Tolerances of Animals
Abstract
Everything, including required nutrients, is
toxic when consumed in great enough quantities.
Signs of toxicity range from the mild (slightly reduced
milk yields) to the most extreme (death). The
maximum tolerable level (MTL) is the highest ‘dose’
of something that does not cause any adverse
effects on an animal. Dose can be defined as
quantity consumed over time or per unit of body
weight (e.g., grams/day or grams/lb), or
concentration in the diet or drinking water (e.g., %
or ppm). In 2005, the National Research Council
published a book that summarized the scientific
literature on mineral tolerances of animals. The
book includes information on 39 minerals (although
information for some is extremely limited) that could
be consumed by animals via a ‘normal diet’, a
contaminated diet, and/or via drinking water. The
committee that wrote the report established MTL
for those 39 minerals (plus nitrate) based on changes
in production, intake, and adverse health effects.
Some of the MTL that are of practical importance
include copper at 40 ppm (all values are on a dietary
dry matter basis); selenium at 5 ppm, sulfur at 0.3
to 0.6%, and sodium chloride (salt) at 3%; however,
numerous factors influence the MTL and these MTL
should only be considered as guidelines. This paper
will discuss the MTL of some of the minerals that
are of practical significance in the tri-state area and
provide an overview of some of the more important
points in the publication.
