Selenium status in Turkey. I. Serum selenium levels in infants and children in Ankara.

This study was initiated to evaluate the status of selenium in Turkish residents. Serum selenium level of 76 healthy children, living in Ankara, aged 2 mo-13 y was determined by a spectrofluorometric method. Average selenium level was found to be 88.1 +/- 12.4 micrograms/L (mean +/- SD). Selenium levels showed a tendency to increase with age and mean selenium level in early infancy was lower than that of school children; no relation to the sex and hematological parameters such as hemoglobin concentration and white blood cell counts were observed.