Assessment of iodine concentrations of cooking salt commercialized in some municipalities in eastern Algeria.

Introduction. Iodine is a vital element for the thyroid hormones synthesis. Iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) are a major public health problem. In Algeria, iodine prophylaxis has been endowed by an executive decree imposing iodization of food salt. The assessment of the iodine content of cooking salt will contribute to updating the nutritional situation in the region. Objective. The iodine content was evaluated in packed cooking salt, commercialized in twelve municipalities located in East of Algeria. Material and methods. The samples number of 191 divided into 18 salt brands marked "iodized salt" were analyzed by iodometric titration. Results. Iodine content ≥ 15 ppm was noted in 80.7% of the collected salt samples, among which 57.6 % involved excess iodine (> 40 ppm). Iodine content ˂ 15 ppm was observed in 16.7% of the samples displayed insufficient. The non appearance of iodine was perceived in 2.6% of cases, such as in AinFakroun and Meskiana samples which exposed the lowest average concentrations (p<0,001). The minimum and maximum iodine content ranged between 0 ppm and 93 ppm with a median of 46.4 ppm. Conclusion. An increase in the rate of iodized salt samples (≥ 15 ppm) is noted, but in an irregular way between regions. Five municipalities display low iodine contents in salt, thus exposing their populations to increased risk of iodine deficiency, in particular in Meskiana and AïnFakroun. Conversely, another risk that should not be overlooked concerns the overiodized salt. The urgency is to control the quality of salt iodization at all levels, and at the determination of the iodized balance of the populations.