Atherosclerosis precursors in Finnish children and adolescents. XIII. Serum and hair copper and zinc concentrations.

The copper and zinc status of 3-18-year-old Finnish children was estimated by analysing 3,480 serum copper and zinc concentrations, 853 hair copper and 868 hair zinc concentrations. Both copper and zinc have been proposed to be connected with the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. In addition, zinc is essential for normal growth and development. The mean serum copper concentration of 3-year-old children was 21.2 mumol/l and the concentration was significantly lower in older age groups. The average serum zinc concentration showed a narrow variation between 14.1 and 15.0 mumol/l in all age groups, nevertheless girls had significantly lower and boys higher values with increasing age. The distribution of hair copper concentration was skewed within the age groups; the median varied between 9.7 micrograms/g and 29.8 micrograms/g for 3-year-old urban girls and 18-year-old rural girls, respectively. Some rural girls had exceptionally high hair copper levels. Hair zinc concentrations increased with age. In the three youngest age groups (3, 6 and 9 years) the distribution was skewed and the levels low compared with results from the USA where a zinc concentration below 30 micrograms/g is found to be associated with the zinc deficiency syndrome.