FIGURE S-1 Dietary reference intakes. This figure shows that the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) is the intake at which the risk of inadequacy is 0.5 (50 percent) to an individual. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) is the intake at which the risk of inadequacy is very small—only 0.02 to 0.03 (2 to 3 percent). The Adequate Intake (AI) does not bear a consistent relationship to the EAR or the RDA because it is set without being able to estimate the average requirement. It is assumed that the AI is at or above the RDA if one could be calculated. At intakes between the RDA and the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL), the risks of inadequacy and of excess are both close to 0. At intakes above the UL, the potential risk of adverse effects may increase.

AI each may serve as the basis for adjusting individual recommendations. Qualified health professionals should adapt the recommended intake to cover higher or lower needs.

Tables S-1 through S-9 provide the recommended intake levels, whether RDAs or AIs, for vitamin A, vitamin K, chromium, copper, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum, and zinc by life stage and gender group. For most of these micronutrients, AIs rather than RDAs are proposed for infants to age 1 year. EARs and RDAs, however, are proposed for iron and zinc for infants 7 to 12 months of age because the level of iron and zinc in human milk does not meet the needs of the older infants and because factorial data are available to estimate the average requirement. Neither AIs nor RDAs were proposed for arsenic, boron, nickel, silicon, or vanadium.