Is vitamin A safe during pregnancy?

At the supplement doses tested in trials, no harm turned up. A 2015 Cochrane review of 19 trials with over 310,000 pregnant women found vitamin A supplements did not change the risk of the mother dying (RR 0.88, 95% CI 0.65 to 1.20) or of perinatal death (RR 1.01, 0.95 to 1.07), on high quality evidence. The risk that is real sits at high doses of preformed vitamin A, the form in supplements, liver and other animal foods, and in retinoid drugs, taken early in pregnancy. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements advises women who are or might be pregnant not to take more than 3,000 mcg RAE (10,000 IU) a day from supplements.

Established. At the doses tested in trials, vitamin A in pregnancy does not change survival. Across the Cochrane trials it made no difference to maternal death, perinatal death or preterm birth (RR 0.98, 95% CI 0.94 to 1.01), and a separate 2012 meta-analysis of 17 trials found no overall effect on birthweight, preterm birth, stillbirth or miscarriage. WHO, for its part, recommends it only where night blindness is a risk, not for every pregnant woman.

What the trials found

Survival and birth outcomes

The 2015 Cochrane review is still the current version, with its search ending in March 2015. The large trials behind it ran in Ghana, Nepal, Bangladesh and the UK, and the women's starting vitamin A status differed between them. Pooled, the supplements left maternal mortality, perinatal mortality, neonatal mortality, stillbirth and low birthweight where they were. A 2012 meta-analysis by a different team, which included beta-carotene trials too, reached the same conclusion from 17 trials.

Benefits, in women who are short of vitamin A

Where deficiency is common, supplements cut night blindness in the mother by about a fifth (RR 0.79, 95% CI 0.64 to 0.98, two trials). Maternal anemia fell by about a third (RR 0.64, 0.43 to 0.94, three studies, moderate quality evidence). The authors limit that benefit to deficiency areas and to HIV-positive women. In HIV-positive women not on antiretroviral drugs, a 2017 Cochrane review found vitamin A probably cut low birthweight (RR 0.78, 95% CI 0.63 to 0.97, 1819 women, moderate certainty). Those trials ran from 1995 to 2005, and the authors say antiretroviral treatment has overtaken the question.

What a supplement changes in the blood

In low and middle income countries, a 2025 meta-analysis found supplements raised the mother's blood vitamin A (standardized difference 0.60, 95% CI 0.13 to 1.08). Deficiency at the 0.7 umol/L threshold fell too (OR 0.55, 0.43 to 0.71). The effect on the baby's levels was negligible. That estimate pools dosing in pregnancy with dosing after birth. In a smaller trial of 112 pregnant women in a community where 76% had low blood retinol, 10,000 IU a week raised vitamin A in cord blood by 21.4% and in the first breast milk by 40.7%.

Who should be careful

Not for everyone. High doses of preformed vitamin A early in pregnancy. In a US cohort of 22,748 pregnancies, women taking more than 10,000 IU a day from supplements had 4.8 times the rate of cranial neural crest birth defects (95% CI 2.2 to 10.5), with the excess concentrated before week 7. That is observational data with few exposed cases, and we have no absolute rate from it. It is still the study behind the 10,000 IU ceiling used by NIH.

Unsettled. Where exactly the danger starts is not settled. A European teratology network followed 311 infants whose mothers took a median 50,000 IU a day in the first nine weeks and found no rise in major malformations (rate ratio 0.50, 95% CI 0.14 to 1.76, against harmless exposures). That study was too small to rule out a risk up to 2.76 times the baseline, so it does not show high doses are safe. Nobody has pooled enough pregnancies to resolve the two.

The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements lists malformations of the eye, skull, lungs and heart among the birth defects caused by excess preformed vitamin A and by retinoid medicines such as isotretinoin, which are drugs rather than food. The upper limits behind that advice rest on liver damage, birth defects and toxicity in children, and they cover preformed vitamin A from food and supplements together. Beta-carotene, the plant form in carrots and sweet potato, is not known to cause birth defects, according to the same fact sheet.

Liver is the food to watch. The European Food Safety Authority, in its 2024 opinion on the upper limit, kept its general advice that women who are planning a pregnancy or are pregnant should not eat liver, offal or products made from them, because the timing and size of preformed vitamin A intake can matter for birth defects. That advice covers liver and offal in general and does not name a species or a product.

At low doses the trial data are reassuring, within their limits. In a trial of 2,500 women in Tanzania, 2,500 IU a day from the first trimester, the window of concern, did not change small for gestational age or preterm birth, and the authors identified no safety concerns. A 2016 Cochrane review found no difference in miscarriage (RR 0.86, 95% CI 0.46 to 1.62) when vitamin A with iron and folate was started before 20 weeks, on low quality evidence with wide intervals. A 2023 meta-analysis of 55 studies saw no side effects up to 4000 mcg RAE a day, though it covered outcomes the trials recorded and did not screen for birth defects.

On medicines, one randomized study in 47 pregnant women found 10,000 IU a day for 3 to 4 weeks did not change the activity of CYP2D6, a liver enzyme that breaks down many drugs. That covers one pathway at one dose and says nothing about others.

What expert bodies say

The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements advises women who are or might be pregnant, and those who are breastfeeding, not to take more than 3,000 mcg RAE (10,000 IU) of vitamin A supplements a day. It also says beta-carotene is not known to be teratogenic, unlike preformed vitamin A.

WHO recommends vitamin A supplements in pregnancy only in populations at risk of night blindness, and not as routine care for every pregnant woman. We read that position in its 2020 antenatal care update. The 2011 guideline that sets the WHO doses could not be retrieved, so we do not quote them.

How we searched

What would change this answer

• An update of the Cochrane review, whose search ended in March 2015.
• A pooled analysis of birth defect cohorts large enough to settle the disagreement between the US and European studies, and with it the exact ceiling.
• A registered trial. We found no active trial of vitamin A in pregnancy.
• A full reading of the 2024 European Food Safety Authority opinion on the upper limit for preformed vitamin A.

The rest of vitamin A, from food sources to deficiency, is in the vitamin A guide.

Sources

1. ev-vapg-01 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials · n = over 310,000 women in 19 trials; 4 trials for maternal mortality
   1) Vitamin A alone versus placebo or no treatmentOverall, when trial results are pooled, vitamin A supplementation does not affect the risk of maternal mortality (risk ratio (RR) 0.88, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.65 to 1.20; four trials Ghana, Nepal, Bangladesh, UK, high quality evidence)
   
   Who: pregnant women in randomized or quasi-randomized trials of vitamin A alone versus placebo or no treatment (Ghana, Nepal, Bangladesh, UK for this outcome)
   Effect: maternal mortality RR 0.88 (95% CI 0.65 to 1.20); 4 trials; high quality evidence
   Certainty: Best synthesis and still the current Cochrane version (searched to March 2015). Baseline vitamin A status differed between the large trials.
   Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2015 · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the abstract
2. ev-vapg-02 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials · n = 1 study (perinatal mortality); 5 studies (preterm birth)
   perinatal mortality (RR 1.01, 95% CI 0.95 to 1.07; one study, high quality evidence), neonatal mortality, stillbirth, neonatal anaemia, preterm birth (RR 0.98, 95% CI 0.94 to 1.01, five studies, high quality evidence), or the risk of having a low birthweight baby.
   
   Who: pregnant women in trials of vitamin A alone versus placebo or no treatment
   Effect: perinatal mortality RR 1.01 (95% CI 0.95 to 1.07); preterm birth RR 0.98 (95% CI 0.94 to 1.01); no effect on neonatal mortality, stillbirth, neonatal anemia or low birthweight
   Certainty: Null results on hard outcomes are the reason WHO does not recommend routine antenatal vitamin A.
   Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2015 · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the abstract
3. ev-vapg-03 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials · n = 2 trials (night blindness); 3 studies (anemia)
   Vitamin A supplementation reduces the risk of maternal night blindness (RR 0.79, 95% CI 0.64 to 0.98; two trials). There is evidence that vitamin A supplements may reduce maternal clinical infection (RR 0.45, 95% CI 0.20 to 0.99, five trials; South Africa, Nepal, Indonesia, Tanzania, UK, low quality evidence) and maternal anaemia (RR 0.64, 95% CI 0.43 to 0.94; three studies, moderate quality evidence).
   
   Who: pregnant women, mostly in areas where vitamin A deficiency is common
   Effect: night blindness RR 0.79 (95% CI 0.64 to 0.98); maternal anemia RR 0.64 (95% CI 0.43 to 0.94), moderate quality evidence
   Certainty: Benefit is for women with low vitamin A status; the authors limit it to deficiency areas or HIV-positive women.
   Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2015 · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the abstract
4. ev-vapg-04 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials with GRADE · n = 23 eligible trials, 17 in meta-analyses
   VA or beta-carotene (βC) supplementation during pregnancy did not have a significant overall effect on birthweight indicators, preterm birth, stillbirth, miscarriage or fetal loss.
   
   Who: pregnant women in trials isolating vitamin A or carotenoid supplementation
   Effect: no significant overall effect on birthweight, preterm birth, stillbirth, miscarriage or fetal loss; maternal mortality RR 0.86 (0.60 to 1.24), I2 74% (3 large trials)
   Certainty: Independent of the Cochrane team, same conclusion. Notes a possible rise in HIV transmission in some populations.
   Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol, 2012 · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the abstract
5. ev-vapg-05 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials · n = 1640 women in 3 trials (fetal loss); 1397 women in 2 trials (miscarriage)
   Vitamin A supplementation No difference was found in the risk of total fetal loss (RR 1.01, 95% CI 0.61 to 1.66, three trials, 1640 women; low-quality evidence); early or late miscarriage (RR 0.86, 95% CI 0.46 to 1.62, two trials, 1397 women; low-quality evidence) or stillbirth (RR 1.29, 95% CI 0.57 to 2.91, three trials, 1640 women; low-quality evidence) between women receiving vitamin A plus iron and folate compared with placebo or no vitamin A groups.
   
   Who: women receiving vitamin A plus iron and folate versus placebo or no vitamin A, supplementation started before 20 weeks' gestation
   Effect: total fetal loss RR 1.01 (95% CI 0.61 to 1.66); early or late miscarriage RR 0.86 (0.46 to 1.62); stillbirth RR 1.29 (0.57 to 2.91); low-quality evidence
   Certainty: Low-quality evidence and wide intervals: no signal of harm from low-dose vitamin A in early pregnancy, but too few women to rule out a small effect.
   Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2016 · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the abstract
6. ev-vapg-06 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials · n = 1819 women in 3 trials (low birthweight); 4428 women in 5 trials (transmission)
   However, giving vitamin A supplements during pregnancy may increase the mean birthweight (MD 34.12 g, 95% CI -12.79 to 81.02; 2181 women, 3 trials, low certainty evidence) and probably reduces the incidence of low birthweight (RR 0.78, 95% CI 0.63 to 0.97; 1819 women, 3 trials, moderate certainty evidence)
   
   Who: HIV-positive pregnant or postpartum women in Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, none on antiretroviral therapy
   Effect: low birthweight RR 0.78 (95% CI 0.63 to 0.97), moderate certainty; mother-to-child HIV transmission RR 1.07 (0.91 to 1.26)
   Certainty: Trials 1995 to 2005, before ART; the authors say the question is superseded by ART.
   Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2017 · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the abstract
7. ev-vapg-07 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · meta-analysis of randomized and observational studies · n = 426,098 pregnancies in 55 studies
   Meta-regression of VAS dose with individual outcomes was not significant, and no side effects were observed for VAS doses up to 4000 mcg (RAE/d).
   
   Who: pregnant women, healthy or with night blindness or HIV, in RCTs and observational studies
   Effect: preterm birth 9% lower in RCTs of healthy mothers (P < 0.001); dose meta-regression not significant; no side effects observed up to 4000 mcg RAE/day
   Certainty: Divergent from Cochrane on preterm birth; pools observational data with trials, reports P values without intervals in the abstract. The safety statement covers outcomes the trials recorded, not teratogenicity screening.
   Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr, 2023 · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the abstract
8. ev-vapg-08 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials with GRADE · n = 76 trials (65 in meta-analysis), all micronutrients
   Vitamin A supplementation during pregnancy or postpartum improved maternal serum concentrations (SMD 0.60; 95% CI 0.13, 1.08; P<0.001) and reduced deficiency at thresholds ≤0.7 μmol/L (OR 0.55; 95% CI 0.43, 0.71; P<0.001); however, its effects on infant and cord serum levels were negligible.
   
   Who: healthy pregnant or lactating women in randomized trials in low- and middle-income countries
   Effect: maternal serum retinol SMD 0.60 (95% CI 0.13 to 1.08); deficiency at <=0.7 umol/L OR 0.55 (0.43 to 0.71); infant and cord levels negligible
   Certainty: Biomarker outcomes only. Pregnancy and postpartum dosing pooled in this estimate.
   Adv Nutr, 2025 · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the abstract
9. ev-vapg-09 · Observational data · prospective cohort study · n = 22,748
   For vitamin A from supplements alone, the ratio of the prevalence among the babies born to women who consumed more than 10,000 IU per day to that among the babies whose mothers consumed 5000 IU or less per day was 4.8 (95 percent confidence interval, 2.2 to 10.5).
   
   Who: 22,748 pregnant women screened in the US, 1984 to 1987, diet and supplements in the first trimester recorded by interview
   Effect: prevalence ratio 4.8 (95% CI 2.2 to 10.5) for >10,000 IU/day from supplements vs <=5000 IU/day; 3.5 (1.7 to 7.3) for >15,000 IU/day from food and supplements; apparent threshold near 10,000 IU/day; excess concentrated before week 7
   Certainty: The study behind the 10,000 IU ceiling used by NIH and WHO. Small number of exposed cases; not replicated by the ENTIS cohort (ev-vapg-10).
   N Engl J Med, 1995 · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the abstract
10. ev-vapg-10 · Observational data · multicentre prospective controlled cohort · n = 311 infants evaluated out of 423 exposed pregnancies
    The presence of major structural malformations, excluding chromosomal and genetic diseases, was evaluated in 311 infants exposed to a median daily dose of vitamin A of 50,000 IU per day (range, 10,000-300,000 IU per day; interquartile range, 25,000-60,000 IU per day).
    
    Who: pregnancies exposed to 10,000 IU/day or more in the first 9 weeks, reported to European Teratology Information Services
    Effect: major malformations rate ratio 0.28 (95% CI 0.06 to 1.23) vs high exposure later in pregnancy; 0.50 (0.14 to 1.76) vs non-teratogenic exposures; could not exclude a risk up to 2.76 times baseline
    Certainty: Contradicts Rothman 1995, but small and powered only to exclude a near-tripling of risk; does not overturn the 10,000 IU ceiling.
    Teratology, 1999 · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the abstract
11. ev-vapg-11 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled factorial trial · n = 2,500
    Those who received zinc had a lower risk of histopathology-positive placental malaria compared with those who did not receive zinc (risk ratio = 0.64, 95% confidence interval = 0.44, 0.91), but neither nutrient had an effect on polymerase chain reaction-positive malaria, SGA, or prematurity. No safety concerns were identified.
    
    Who: HIV-negative primigravid or secundigravid women in the first trimester, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; 2,500 IU vitamin A, 25 mg zinc, both, or placebo daily until delivery
    Effect: no effect of vitamin A on PCR-positive malaria, small for gestational age or prematurity; no safety concerns identified
    Certainty: Low physiological dose started in the first trimester, the window of teratogenic concern; birth outcomes for 2,434 of 2,500.
    Am J Trop Med Hyg, 2017 · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the abstract
12. ev-vapg-12 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized placebo-controlled trial · n = 112
    Seventy-six percent of women had low plasma retinol concentrations (<1.05 μmol/L) in their second trimester. VAS of mothers increased vitamin A concentrations in cord blood by 21.4% and in colostrum by 40.7%.
    
    Who: pregnant women from the second trimester (about 14 weeks) in a low vitamin A community (76% with plasma retinol <1.05 umol/L), 10,000 IU weekly or placebo until 6 months postpartum
    Effect: cord blood vitamin A +21.4%; colostrum vitamin A +40.7%; maternal H1N1 antibody titers 38.7% higher at 6 months postpartum
    Certainty: Small trial, immune and biomarker outcomes; registered NCT00817661.
    J Nutr, 2018 · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the abstract
13. ev-vapg-13 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized controlled pharmacokinetic study · n = 47
    Vitamin A supplementation did not change CYP2D6 activity during pregnancy; however, plasma all-trans retinoic acid (atRA) concentrations were positively correlated with increased CYP2D6 activity during pregnancy and postpartum.
    
    Who: pregnant CYP2D6 extensive metabolizers at 25 to 32 weeks, randomized to no supplement or 10,000 IU/day vitamin A for 3 to 4 weeks
    Effect: no change in CYP2D6 activity (dextromethorphan probe) with vitamin A; pregnancy itself raised CYP2D6 activity 43%
    Certainty: Single probe drug; reassuring on one interaction pathway at the 10,000 IU dose, not on others.
    J Clin Pharmacol, 2023 · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the abstract
14. ev-vapg-14 · Position of an expert body · government fact sheet · n = —
    Experts advise women who are or might be pregnant and those who are lactating not to take high doses (more than 3,000 mcg RAE [10,000 IU] daily) of vitamin A supplements [1].
    
    Who: women who are or might be pregnant, and lactating women
    Effect: supplement ceiling 3,000 mcg RAE (10,000 IU) per day of preformed vitamin A; preformed vitamin A above the UL and retinoid drugs such as isotretinoin can cause birth defects
    Certainty: Agency position resting on the Food and Nutrition Board UL; the effect number behind it is Rothman 1995 (ev-vapg-09).
    NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Vitamin A and Carotenoids Fact Sheet for Health Professionals · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the section
15. ev-vapg-15 · Position of an expert body · government fact sheet · n = —
    Unlike preformed vitamin A, beta-carotene is not known to be teratogenic or lead to reproductive toxicity [1].
    
    Who: general, including pregnancy
    Effect: beta-carotene not known to be teratogenic; excess causes harmless yellow-orange skin (carotenodermia)
    Certainty: Distinguishes carrots and sweet potato from liver and retinol supplements; the teratogenic risk is from preformed vitamin A only.
    NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Vitamin A and Carotenoids Fact Sheet for Health Professionals · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the section
16. ev-vapg-16 · Position of an expert body · government fact sheet · n = —
    These birth defects can include malformations of the eye, skull, lungs, and heart [14].
    
    Who: pregnant women exposed to preformed vitamin A above the UL or to retinoid medications
    Effect: malformations of the eye, skull, lungs and heart
    Certainty: Retinoid drugs (isotretinoin, etretinate) are medicines, not food; listed here because readers ask about them together.
    NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Vitamin A and Carotenoids Fact Sheet for Health Professionals · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the section
17. ev-vapg-17 · Position of an expert body · WHO guideline background section · n = —
    In addition, in certain populations at risk of night blindness, vitamin A supplementation during pregnancy is recommended (1).
    
    Who: pregnant women in populations at risk of night blindness
    Effect: vitamin A supplementation recommended in certain populations at risk of night blindness
    Certainty: Restates the WHO 2016 antenatal care recommendation (not recommended routinely; up to 10,000 IU daily or 25,000 IU weekly where deficiency is severe). The 2011 and 2016 documents themselves could not be fetched (see misses).
    World Health Organization, WHO antenatal care recommendations for a positive pregnancy experience: nutritional interventions update, multiple micronutrient supplements during pregnancy, 2020 · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the section
18. pate-vita-02 · Position of an expert body · scientific opinion of the EFSA NDA Panel · n = —
    Since both acute and chronic intakes of preformed vitamin A and the timing of consumption by pregnant women (i.e. during embryogenesis) may be critical for teratogenicity (Section 3.6.1), the Panel maintains the general recommendation for women who are planning to become pregnant or who are pregnant not to consume liver, offal or products thereof (SCF, 1992, 2002).
    
    Who: women planning pregnancy and pregnant women, EU
    Effect: general recommendation: do not consume liver, offal or products thereof (SCF 1992, 2002, maintained 2024)
    Certainty: Body position, level E. Advice covers liver and offal in general and does not name a species or product. Same quote as seal-daily-r5-17.
    EFSA NDA Panel, Scientific opinion on the tolerable upper intake level for preformed vitamin A and beta-carotene, EFSA Journal 2024;22(6):e8814 · checked 2026-09-29 · we read the fulltext
19. vita-04 · Position of an expert body
    Total intakes of preformed vitamin A that exceed the UL as well as some retinoid medications can cause congenital birth defects.
    
    Who: general adults
    Effect: harm from excess: birth defects
    NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, VitaminA - Health Professional Fact Sheet · checked 2026-09-16
20. vita-t8 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials of antenatal supplementation · n = over 310,000 women in the review
    Vitamin A supplementation reduces the risk of maternal night blindness (RR 0.79, 95% CI 0.64 to 0.98; two trials).
    
    Who: pregnant women in two trials reporting night blindness, out of 19 included trials
    Effect: maternal night blindness risk ratio 0.79 (95% CI 0.64 to 0.98) against placebo or no treatment
    Certainty: only two trials for this outcome; the same review found no effect on maternal or perinatal mortality
    McCauley et al., Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2015 · checked 2026-09-17 · we read the abstract
21. vita-t9 · Observational data · multicentre prospective controlled study with two internal control groups · n = 311 infants evaluated out of 423 exposed pregnancies
    The presence of major structural malformations, excluding chromosomal and genetic diseases, was evaluated in 311 infants exposed to a median daily dose of vitamin A of 50,000 IU per day (range, 10,000-300,000 IU per day; interquartile range, 25,000-60,000 IU per day)...When the birth prevalence rate of major malformations in the study group was compared with two internal control groups of infants exposed to: 1) "high" vitamin A exposure later in pregnancy, and 2) nonteratogenic agent exposures, the rate ratio was, respectively, 0.28 (CI 95% interval, 0.06, 1.23) and 0.50 (CI 95% interval, 0.14, 1.76).
    
    Who: women reporting 10,000 IU a day or more of vitamin A in the first nine weeks of gestation, followed by teratology information services across Europe
    Effect: rate ratio for major malformations 0.28 (95% CI 0.06 to 1.23) against high vitamin A exposure later in pregnancy and 0.50 (95% CI 0.14 to 1.76) against non-teratogenic exposures
    Certainty: observational and underpowered: the study could only exclude a risk more than 2.76 times the control rate, so it is not evidence that high doses are safe
    Mastroiacovo et al., Teratology, 1999 · checked 2026-09-17 · we read the abstract
22. ev-vahl-10 · Position of an expert body · government fact sheet · n = —
    Unlike preformed vitamin A, beta-carotene is not known to be teratogenic or lead to reproductive toxicity [1].
    
    Who: general population
    Effect: no teratogenicity known for beta-carotene; long-term excess causes harmless yellow-orange skin
    Certainty: toxicity limits apply to preformed vitamin A only
    NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Vitamin A and Carotenoids Fact Sheet for Health Professionals · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the section
23. ev-vahl-11 · Position of an expert body · government fact sheet · n = —
    The FNB based these ULs on the amounts associated with an increased risk of liver abnormalities in men and women, teratogenic effects, and several toxic effects in infants and children.
    
    Who: all age groups; adult UL 3,000 mcg RAE of preformed vitamin A
    Effect: UL basis: liver abnormalities, teratogenic effects, toxic effects in infants and children
    Certainty: UL numbers sit in an ODS table; this card cites the text that explains them
    NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Vitamin A and Carotenoids Fact Sheet for Health Professionals · checked 2026-10-06 · we read the section