Explanation

Molybdenum (urine): what is measured?

The analysis measures how much molybdenum leaves the body in the urine. Molybdenum is a trace element needed for enzymes that build up and break down proteins. It is found in almost all food, especially in whole grain products, legumes and nuts, and is well absorbed in the gut. The kidneys excrete the excess, so the urine value mainly follows intake over the recent past.

What can it detect?

Exposure to molybdenum at work, for example in the steel industry or in the production of paint and lubricants
A high intake through supplements

Result

What does the result mean?

Molybdenum (urine) too high

A raised value usually fits a high intake, for example through supplements, or exposure at work. According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre (Voedingscentrum), you are unlikely to take in too much molybdenum through ordinary food; if this does happen, it can cause extra loss of copper through the urine. The value can also be raised with liver disease.

Molybdenum (urine) too low

A low value says little. According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre (Voedingscentrum), a molybdenum deficiency has never been found in humans, so a low result does not call for supplementation.

After an abnormal result

With a raised result, the GP looks at supplements, work and liver function, and may have copper measured in blood, because a lot of molybdenum can increase copper loss.

Reliability

How reliable is the test?

Molybdenum in urine mainly says something about intake over the recent past. According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre (Voedingscentrum), there are too few data to set a nutritional standard for molybdenum; the Health Council of the Netherlands only gives an adequate intake. An abnormal value rarely has meaning in people without exposure at work and without supplements. A single urine sample is usually expressed per gram of creatinine, so that dilution plays no role.

What can affect the result?

A single urine sample depends strongly on how much you have drunk; the result is easier to compare when it is expressed per gram of creatinine, which requires measuring creatinine in the same sample.
Supplements containing molybdenum, such as some multivitamins, raise the value.
What you have eaten in the days before affects the result.
There are no agreed cutoff values; the limit between normal and raised comes from the laboratory itself.

Who it is for

Who is the test useful for?

Useful for

Useful with known exposure to molybdenum at work, or with long-term use of high-dose supplements containing molybdenum. In people without symptoms and without known exposure, the measurement adds nothing, because a deficiency or excess through food hardly ever occurs.

How common is it?

According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre (Voedingscentrum), as far as is known, no deficiency or excess of molybdenum occurs in the Netherlands. A deficiency has never been found in humans.

The Netherlands Nutrition Centre (Voedingscentrum)

Drawbacks and risks

An abnormal value without symptoms easily leads to worry and to unnecessary follow-up testing.

Get tested

Molybdenum (urine): test panels

Molybdenum (urine) is part of these test panels. You order online and have your blood drawn at a collection point or collect the sample at home.

Urine · 2 analyses
Molybdenum
Measures molybdenum in your urine, as a measure of intake over the recent past. For anyone who works with molybdenum or takes high-dose supplements.
€ 78,00

Evidence

Sources

This explanation is based on Dutch guidelines and independent information. It is general information, not a diagnosis. Discuss an abnormal result with your GP.

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