Selenium intake and serum selenium in Finland: effects of soil fertilization with selenium

Since fall 1984 all agricultural multinutrient fertilizers in Finland have been supplemented with sodium selenate in an attempt to improve the nutritional quality of local foodstuffs known to be exceptionally low in selenium. The intervention has been effective from the growing season 1985 and it has affected practically all domestic agricultural products. From 1984 to 1986 the mean Se concentration of different foods increased. The mean Se intake of the population, calculated on the basis of food consumption statistics and from the data of urinary Se excretion, as well as the average serum Se concentration of both urban and rural people increased also during the same period. Enrichment of fertilizers with sodium selenate seems an efficient and predictable way of increasing the Se concentration of foods and the Se intake of people in low-Se areas.