Whole blood selenium content in pregnant women

The selenium content in the blood of pregnant women in the Valencian Community, Spain was determined until the end of gestation in order to assess its evolution and detect possible differences in relation to the values corresponding to non-pregnant women of fertile age. A total of 158 blood samples were obtained from 137 pregnant women. Samples were classified as: (a) first; (b) second; and (c) third trimester. Selenium was determined by a flow injection hydride atomic absorption spectrometric method (Seronorm whole blood was used as a quality control check). The selenium values obtained for the three trimesters followed a Gaussian distribution. The intervals for mean found were: (a) 75.7-8…