[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. Thus, with low hair zinc content, there is a positive correlation (r = 0.32) between selenium and zinc (p < 0.05), while with its hair levels, there is a negative correlation (r = -0.46; p < 0.05). The content of selenium in the children's biosubstrata increases with age. The hair selenium levels are higher in girls than in boys. In ill children, they amount to 47 to 77% of those of healthy children.