[Sanitary assessment of provision of children with selenium in the Baikal Lake area]. / Gigienicheskaia otsenka obespechennosti selenom detei Pribaikal'ia.

The provision of children from Baikal Lake areas with selenium was studied in relation to the geochemical area, the man-made pollution of an area, sex, age, and the presence of a disease has been studied. The content of selenium in the hairs of the children living in the areas extensively exposed to pollution is show to be lower than in those from ecologically pure areas. The correlation of selenium with other elements in the children's hair depends on the level of these elements. Thus, with low hair zinc content, there is a positive correlation (r = 0.32) between selenium and zinc (p < 0.05), while with its hair levels, there is a negative correlation (r = -0.46; p < 0.05). The content of selenium in the children's biosubstrata increases with age. The hair selenium levels are higher in girls than in boys. In ill children, they amount to 47 to 77% of those of healthy children.

[Selenium status in population of Irkutsk region]. / Potreblenie selena naseleniem Irkutskoi oblasti.

The human selenium status in 10 locations of Irkutsk region (n = 216) is estimated using serum and hair selenium as biological markers. Extremely low serum selenium was typical for the inhabitants of Angara area (63-84 mcg/l). Hair selenium varied from 504 mcg/kg to 718 mcg/kg, the lowest values being found in Shelehov and Angarsk, the highest--in Karam and Mama. Low selenium concentrations were found also in the main food products: cereals--49-89 mcg/kg, meat--234-489 mcg/kg of dry weight, bread--106-180 mcg/kg of dry weight.