INAA of serum zinc of inhabitants in five regions of the Czech Republic

To investigate the Zn status of inhabitants of the Czech Republic, 1155 ser um and 132 hair samples were analyzed for zinc content. Analyzed material w as obtained from randomly selected volunteers of both sexes in the age rang e 6-65 yr. Subpopulations from five regions were included in the study. Ana lyses of both materials were performed by Instrumental Neutron Activation A nalysis (INAA). Coanalyses of Standard Reference Materials (SRM) for qualit y control were performed. The results (mean 910 +/- 276 mu g Zn/L serum and 189 +/- 45 mu g Zn/g hair) demonstrate satisfactory zinc status of the sea rched population. Significant interregional differences and age-dependent d ifferences, as well as sex-dependent differences have been detected by the use of correlation analysis. On the basis of these results, serum Zn concen tration results of individual categories according to age and sex were eval uated, and on the grounds of mean +/- 2 standard deviations, indicative int ervals were calculated. The frequency of individual serum Zn concentrations proved that the population of the Czech Republic does not suffer from seve re zinc deficiency. On the other hand, about one-third of our inhabitants h as their serum Zn concentrations below the cutoff value of 800 mu g Zn/L se rum, which means a marginal or mild Zn deficit of the organism.