The Effects of pH on the Absorption of Fortified Iron A high school report
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Abstract
Have you ever experienced a burning pain on your sternum before? This burning is caused by gastroesophageal reflux. This is a common disease where the acid from the stomach travels back up the esophagus. The only way to contain this burning is to take a gastroesophageal reflux medication. These medications are taken to decrease the acidity of the stomach acid.
These medications could also cause a new problem called iron-deficient anemia, because iron gets less bioavailable as the pH of the stomach rises over 3.5. This investigation was designed to address the question, how does Gastroesophageal reflux medication affect the pH in the stomach, therefore, affecting the bioavailability of iron? I hypothesized that as the pH of the stomach becomes less acidic, because of the effects of the gastroesophageal reflux medication, the bioavailability of iron will decrease.
For this project, gastric acids from the pH of 1 to the pH of 7 were individually heated to 37℃, the average human body temperature. That temperature was maintained for 3 hours in order to mimic the amount of time food would be in the stomach. Ten grams of iron powder were added to solutions at each pH level for 3 hours. After 3 hours, the gastric juice was filtered. The filter paper and iron residue were allowed to dry and then the mass was measured. The amount
of iron which was dissolved in the solution was then determined. Overall, my hypothesis was incorrect because the bioavailability of iron was variable at various pH levels. There was not a linear relationship between iron solubility and pH. These results are relevant to this issue because it has been determined that the solubility of fortified iron
in the stomach is relatively unchanged by pH variations due to the effect of acid reflux medicine.
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