Dietary selenium intake of Chinese adult women in the 1990s

To assess the levels of daily dietary intake of selenium (Se) among the gen eral Chinese population, a series of field surveys were conducted in the 19 90s. Samples of 24-h duplicates of foods were collected from 500 participan ts (300 in 6 cities and 200 from 4 villages). Se levels were determined by microwave digestion followed by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometr y (ICP-MS), and the measurements were compared with FCT (Food Composition T ables)based estimates. The average daily intake of Se was 69.2 mug/d (79.9 and 53.1 mug/d in ur:ban and rural areas, respectively) by instrumental det ermination and 35.1 mug/d (36.7 and 32.7 mug/d) by FCT-based estimation. As the distribution of Se should be uneven within China, the FCT-based estima tion is of a limited value and the ICP-MS determination of Se is more accur ate and reliable when evaluating the nutritional status of local people. Ta king ICP-MS-based values, Se intakes were lower in rural areas than in urba n areas, and the intakes of about half of the people in rural areas were le ss than the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) in China of 50 mug/d. The low intake might be resulted from difference in the types of food consumed.