Chromium, iron, selenium, and zinc levels in serum from preschool children in central Taiwan.

The elemental levels of chromium, iron, selenium, and zinc in the sera from 81 preschool children (3-6 yr old) who lived in central Taiwan were determined. One-half of them, at 12 kindergartens in two metropolitan precincts, lived in the Taichung city (TCPC) and the rest lived in 10 urban townships (TUTPC), which had been randomly selected. A blood sample was collected from each subject; sera were freeze-dried, and chromium, iron, selenium, and zinc were measured using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). Results were considered in relation to environmental conditions and the sex and age of the preschool children. The mean concentrations of zinc serum in the TCPC group were statistically significantly higher than those of TUTPC group (p<0.01). The iron sera from girls are higher than those of boys, in both TCPC and TUTPC groups, and show a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) in the TUTPC group. In the TCPC group, Cr contents were positively correlated with age. Elemental concentrations of sera were compared across ages and country.