Blood selenium in select mid‐income Florida employees

Abstract

Blood samples from 19 healthy, mid‐income Floridians (5 females, 14 males) were collected and analyzed for copper, zinc, and selenium using atomic absorption spectroscopy. The mean (± 1 S.D.) values were copper 1.00 ± 0.29 ppm; zinc, 0.86 ± 0.19 ppm; and selenium, 132 ± 29 ppb. The mean selenium level for the females (n = 5) was 125 ± 37 ppb and 132 ± 31 ppb for males (n = 14). No significant difference was observed for the two groups. No correlation was observed between copper and zinc. The correlations between zinc and selenium appeared to fall into two groupings, and the correlation between copper and selenium appeared to be slightly negative. These are among the relatively few data that have been collected for selenium levels in Floridians, and implications are discussed.

Key words:

• Atomic absorption spectroscopy
• copper
• Keshan disease
• selenium
• zinc