[Sanitary assessment of provision of children with selenium in the Baikal Lake area].

The provision of children from Baikal Lake areas with selenium was studied in relation to the geochemical area, the man-made pollution of an area, sex, age, and the presence of a disease has been studied. The content of selenium in the hairs of the children living in the areas extensively exposed to pollution is show to be lower than in those from ecologically pure areas. The correlation of selenium with other elements in the children's hair depends on the level of these elements.

[Health status of children living in the vicinity of coal open pits].

Open-cast mining in the vicinities of the town of Cheremkhovo is cause of environmental pollution with Al, Pb, Zn, Cu, As, B, Ni, Be, Sn, Y, Cr, V. Assessing the health status of children living in this area revealed the following: a high incidence of diseases; multimorbidity with a tendency for chronicity; reduced concentrations of a complex of essential trace elements in the children's hair below the physiological level; abundant hair heavy metals; the relation of hair trace element composition to the coal output. Micro- and macroelement imbalance is likely to cause high morbidity in the children living in the open-cast mining area.

[Selenium status in population of Irkutsk region].

The human selenium status in 10 locations of Irkutsk region (n = 216) is estimated using serum and hair selenium as biological markers. Extremely low serum selenium was typical for the inhabitants of Angara area (63-84 mcg/l). Hair selenium varied from 504 mcg/kg to 718 mcg/kg, the lowest values being found in Shelehov and Angarsk, the highest--in Karam and Mama.