Iron tests are most often used to: Check if the iron levels in your blood are too low, a sign of anemia. But not all people who have low iron levels have anemia. Diagnose different types of anemia.

Total iron binding capacity (TIBC) is a blood test to see if you have too much or too little iron in your blood. Iron moves through the blood attached to a protein called transferrin. This test helps your health care provider know how well that protein can carry iron in your blood.

Ferritin is a blood protein that contains iron. This test can be used to find out how much iron the body stores. If a ferritin test shows that the blood ferritin level is low, it means the body's iron stores are low. This is a condition called iron deficiency.