Speciation of selenium(IV) (selenite) and selenium(VI) (selenate) levels in human whole blood samples

Abstract

This paper examined the speciation of selenium(IV) (selenite) and selenium(VI) (selenate) levels in human blood samples from Tarkwa and its environs, a mining-impacted area in Ghana, using hydride generation atomic absorption spectrophotometric technique. Selenium (IV) within the experimental subjects ranged from 0.08±0.01 μg/mL to 0.50±0.02 μg/ mL with a mean of 0.29 μg/mL, while the control ranged from 0.02±0.1 μg/mL to 0.21±0.05 μg/mL, with a mean of 0.07 μg/ mL. Significant differences existed between the amount of selenium (IV) concentrations in experimental and control subjects (p=0.0001<0.05). The selenium (VI) in experimental subjects ranged from 2.97±0.52 μg/mL to 4.39±0.42 μg/mL, with a mean of 3.63 μg/mL, while the control ranged from 0.60 μg/mL to 1.0 μg/mL, with a mean of 0.89 μg/mL. Significant differences existed between the degree of selenium (VI) in experimental and also the control subjects (p=5.98 x10-14<0.05). The measurement precision determined by relative variance was within ±5%. The accuracy of the determination was evaluated by analysing certified standard human hair reference material GBW 09101.