[The chemical element content of mixed unstimulated saliva from a healthy subject]

The levels of 21 chemical elements (N, Na, Mg, P, Cl, K, Ca, Sc, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, Se, Br, Rb, Sr, Ag, Sb, Hg) were measured in 52 normal subjects aged 18 to 35 years with the use of a complex of instrumental methods including the neutron activation and x-ray fluorescence analysis. Effects of day time, season, sex and age on salivary composition were examined. The measured concentrations of chemicals in mixed nonstimulated saliva were different in each individual; some of them were liable to change only in the course of 24 hrs, therefore the time for saliva collection had to be strictly defined: 10-12 a.m. were found the optimal hours for saliva collection. Neither sex, nor age, nor season influenced the concentrations of the examined 21 chemicals, except Hg whose concentration grows with age.