An effort has been made to standardize the indirect iron saturation excess method for the determination of the serum unsaturated iron binding capacity (UIBC) and thus to relinquish the direct adsorption methods for the assay of the serum total iron binding capacity (TIBC) which give falsely high results due to unspecific binding of the saturating iron to serum proteins. In order to eliminate the interfering effects of hydrolytic polymerization of iron(III) on the saturation of apotransferrin in serum and on the colorimetric determination of the unbound iron excess at pH 8.3, conditions have been studied for the preparation of the iron-nitrilotriacetate-complex (Fe(NTA)2) solution at pH 8.3 with respect to its reactivity with the reductant sodium ascorbate and with the chromogen bathophenanthroline-disulfonate in photometric standards and in samples containing iron-saturated serum. The validity of the results for the UIBC thus obtained has been investigated (1) by direct spectrophotometric titration with Fe(NTA)2 of the apotransferrin in serum by measuring the absorbance of transferrin at 470 nm in 50-mm cuvettes, and of the UIBC using the modified indirect iron saturation excess assay, both of which gave the same saturation points, and (2) by the correlation of the TIBC obtained from serum iron determinations and the UIBC, with the transferrin concentration measured by the radial immunodiffusion assay. Results of UIBC determinations are presented along with serum iron concentration, TIBC, and transferrin saturation in groups of subjects with normal iron stores and prelatent, latent, and manifest iron deficiency.