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An adequate supply of dietary iodine is essential as a substrate for the thyroid gland. In some countries, including Britain and the United States, dietary iodine levels have risen markedly in recent years due to the use of iodized salt or bread to eliminate endemic goitre or to the casual use of iodine in food processing and farming. Iodine intake in some communities now greatly exceeds the recommended daily allowance of 150 µg (Wenlock, Buss, Moxon & Bunton, 1982). Additionally, pharmacological doses of iodine may be ingested in certain drugs, for example amiodarone, in radiographic contrast agents or in iodine-containing mouthwashes. Concern that excess iodine intake may cause thyroid dysfunction has renewed interest in the role of iodine in thyroid metabolism.

As well as being a substrate for the biosynthesis of thyroid hormone, iodine has a number of effects on the thyroid gland including the induction of both hypo- and