OBJECTIVETo investigate the amount of daily iodine intake in the diet of the target population in drinking water with areas of excessive iodine after stopping supply of iodized salt, to provide evidence for developing strategies on control and prevention of excessive iodine.

METHODS335 objectives were selected by a two-stage sampling method in 4 administrative villages with different iodine contents in drinking water. The amount of drinking water intake and dietary survey for 335 people were done by a door-to-door survey,while the iodine contents in the drinking water of each selected family, local staple food and vegetable were measured.

RESULTSThe median level of iodine in drinking water was 431.5 microg/L while the daily amount of iodine intake among the three groups of waters with different iodine contents were all greater than RNI. The daily iodine intake of local people was all greater than UL in the areas where the water iodine contents were more than 300 microg/L. It was of statistical sense that the iodine mean intake per capita per day of the three groups differed at different water iodine levels (P < 0.01). The iodine mean intake per capita per day of the three groups of different water iodine levels increased along with water iodine and showed a uptrend (P < 0.01). 83.2%-98.7% of the daily iodine intake of the three groups was from drinking water and 1.3%-16.8% came from food. The iodine intake had high-positive correlation relation with the content of water iodine (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONIt was concluded that drinking water was the main source of iodine intake in areas with iodine excessive water by the percentage of over 80%. It was necessary to adopt measures to improve the quality of water to decrease the iodine content other than just stopping supplies of iodized salt in the areas where the water iodine contents were greater than 300 microg/L, in order to prevent and control excessive intake of iodine.