Trace Elements in Medicine (Moscow)
2016, 17(4): 21-26
ORIGINAL PAPER

THE SELENIUM STATUS OF KALININGRAS REGION

N.A. Golubkina

All-Russian institute of vegetable breeding and seeds production, Agrochemical research center, Selectsionnaya str. 14, VNIISSOK, Odintsovo district, Moscow region 143080, Russia.

DOI: 10.19112/2413-6174-2016-17-4-21-26 

ABSTRACT. Selenium concentrations in objects of the environment are strictly connected with the level of human lifespan and resistance to chronic diseases. Evaluation of the selenium status in Russia is considered to possess significant difficulties due to vast territory of the country, great variations in geochemical conditions, levels of anthropogenic pollution and the necessity to achieve complex investigations of the human selenium status, selenium content in food products and objects of the environment. The aim of the present study was to evaluate selenium status of the Kaliningrad region situated in a known selenium deficiency zone. The revealed serum selenium content was found to be the lowest among regions of European Russia and reached 75–77 µg/L. Selenium concentration in cereals was in the range 15–70 µg/kg. The levels of selenium in beef (73–86 µg/kg, fresh weight) were the lowest in the Pravdinsk and Neman districts of the region, neighboring to selenium deficient Lithuania and Poland. Selenium concentration in chicken meat did not exceed 100 µg/kg and was approximately twice lower than appropriate values in regions of Russia with well-developed aviculture. Selenium content in tree leaves and mushrooms was significantly lower than 50 µg/kg dry weight. Inter- and intraspecific variability was demonstrated for selenium accumulation by plants. For the first time Hippóphaë was shown to accumulate significant amounts of selenium on the shore of Baltic Sea. Possible decisions of the selenium deficiency problem in the Kaliningrad region are discussed.

KEYWORDS: selenium deficiency, Kaliningrad region, blood serum, food products, tree and bushes leaves, mushrooms.