STUDIES ON SOME TRACE AND MINOR ELEMENTS IN BLOOD - A SURVEY OF THE KALPAKKAM (INDIA) POPULATION .3. STUDIES ON DIETARY-INTAKE AND ITS CORRELATION TO BLOOD-LEVELS

In our studies on elemental levels in blood of the Kalpakkam populatio n, it was found that the reference values for many elements were norma l, but some deficiency with respect to Se was noticed. As a followup s tudy, the dietary ingredients of the local population were analyzed fo r trace and minor elements to assess the dietary intake of these eleme nts. Details of the analytical methods developed using the technique o f inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and atomic abs orption spectrometry (AAS) have been described. The dietary intake of many of these trace and minor elements were found to be quite adequate according to the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) levels prescribe d, except for Se and Zn. The dietary intake of Se was found to be in t he range 20-50 mu g/d (as opposed to the RDA of 50-200 mu g/d), wherea s the intake of Zn was found to be in the range 8-10 mg/d (as opposed to the RDA of 15 mg/d). Although the deficiency of Se intake was refle cted in the blood, that of Zn was not, probably owing to the high leve l of homeostasis for this element. Fish and egg were found to be rich sources of Se, followed by cereals and pulses, which were found to be the major sources of Zn.