SERUM SELENIUM, ZINC AND COPPER IN SWEDISH AND FINNISH ORIENTEERS - ACOMPARATIVE-STUDY

Serum selenium, zinc and copper concentrations of 127 highly-trained S wedish orienteers have been analysed and compared with the correspondi ng values of 30 elite Finnish orienteers, and those of 111 healthy Fin nish medical students. The mean serum selenium levels of Finnish orien teers, 1.35 mu mol l(-1), and students, 1.38 mu mol l(-1), were statis tically significantly higher than those of Swedish orienteers, 1.09 mu mol l(-1). The serum levels of selenium were lower than 1.0 mu mol l( -1) in 27% of Swedish orienteers. This is obviously due to the lower s elenium intake of the population in Sweden, where the soil selenium co ntent is known to be low. Serum levels of zinc were within the referen ce interval in both Swedish and Finnish orienteers (mean values 14.8 a nd 14.1 mu mol l(-1), respectively). However, Finnish students had sig nificantly lower serum levels of zinc, 12.5 mu mol l(-1.) The mean ser um concentration of copper was statistically significantly higher in f emales than in males.