Molybdenum is an essential trace element that the body builds into a cofactor needed by four enzymes, which break down sulfur-containing amino acids and some drugs and toxins. Deficiency has not been reported in healthy people.
Also known as: sodium molybdate, molybdenum glycinate.
ODS lists a Recommended Dietary Allowance of 45 mcg a day for adults (50 mcg in pregnancy and while breastfeeding) and an adult Tolerable Upper Intake Level of 2,000 mcg a day. Supplements contain about 50 to 500 mcg.
It is sold in the US as a dietary supplement. Under the 1994 dietary supplement law (DSHEA), FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they are marketed, and the maker, not FDA, is responsible for safety and labeling. ODS says most Americans get enough molybdenum, mainly from legumes, grains, leafy vegetables, beef liver and milk, and that it is not a standard treatment for any disease. Deficiency has been seen only in a rare genetic disorder and in one patient fed intravenously without molybdenum in 1981.
What studies show: in a US Department of Agriculture study, 4 young men ate 22 to 1,490 mcg a day for 24 days at each level. They absorbed 88% to 93% of it, had no adverse effects, and cleared extra molybdenum quickly in urine (Turnlund 1995).
Safety, per ODS: high food intake usually does no harm because the kidneys excrete it, but in an area of Armenia with molybdenum-rich soil, intakes of 10 to 15 mg a day were linked to achy joints, gout-like symptoms and high uric acid. The upper limit is based on reproduction effects in rats and mice. Molybdenum has no known clinically relevant drug interactions.
We could not find a single published half-life or time to peak for molybdenum that applies to a supplement dose, so we do not list one. A stable-isotope study found the body conserves molybdenum when intake is low and excretes extra quickly in urine when intake is high (Turnlund 1995).
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