I donated my blood today and they said my iron level was 52, is this a good range for iron?
There will be some variation from one laboratory to another. In general a typical range for serum iron is 80 to 180 ug/dL for males and 60 to 160 ug/dL for females. If you are not in the US the range would be 14 to 32 umol/L and 11 to 29 umol/L respectively. In accordance with Bayes Theorem serum iron is of little to no value in assessing the bodies iron stores. The test for this is a ferritin level. The normal range for ferritin is quite broad. JR
While others have given extensive explanations concerning serum iron levels, FDA guidelines require either hemoglobin or hematocrit (blood count) determination prior to volunteer blood donation. Based on your result, collection staff most likely measured your hematocrit. 52% is on the upper end of the acceptable range, and likely explained by slight dehydration. Overall, your levels are fine. Thanks for such a generous gift.
