Determination of trace selenium in human plasma and hair with ternary inclusion compound–fluorescent spectrophotometry

Abstract

A method for determination of selenium in plasma and hair with ternary inclusion compound–fluorescent spectrophotometry has been developed. The determination of selenium in plasma and hair can be performed directly in aqueous solution. Blood and hair samples were destroyed by oxygen flask combustion. The linear range was 10–500 ng mL⁻¹ for plasma and 10–100 ng mL⁻¹ for hair. Within-day and day-to-day precisions for plasma ranged from 5.4% to 9.3% (n=7) and from 3.5% to 14.5% (n = 7), respectively. Within-day precisions for hair ranged from 0.6% to 6.2% (n = 7). Recoveries ranged from 91.0% to 97.8% for plasma and from 95.0% to 102.0% for hair. The blood samples from 15 Hans and 20 Uygurs in Xinjiang Uygur automatic region and 23 Hans in Liaoning province were collected and determined. It was indicated that no statistically significant difference in plasma selenium concentration of the Hans between Xinjiang and Liaoning was found (F = 1.36, P >0.05). However, there were statistically significant differences between the Hans and the Uygurs in Xinjiang (F = 1.01, P <0.01) and between males and females in the two areas (P <0.01). There was a low correlation between plasma selenium concentration and hair selenium concentration. The ratio of hair selenium concentration to plasma selenium concentration was 2.17, with a range of 1.63–2.88.