Since most of the central regions of the European part of Russia are considered selenium and iodine deficient, the assessment of modern real consumption of chlorine, bromine, iodine and selenium by population of these regions with different diets is an important constituent part of medical monitoring. In this paper, a brief analysis of the impact of these elements on the human body is given. A number of consumed foodstuffs in different food rations (diets) were assessed. Six selected basic food rations, which most fully reflect the specific features of nutrition in the Russian Federation, were chosen. The analysis of the concentration of chlorine, bromine, iodine and selenium in a wide range of food and agricultural products was carried out. The daily intake of these elements in the human body from the selected diets was calculated. A comparison of the real income of chlorine, bromine, iodine and selenium in the human body with a physiologically needed intake was performed. It is proposed to use the coefficient of Kr, which is the ratio of actual intake of the element in the human body to physiologically needed intake. Based on this analysis assessed insufficient or excess supply of chlorine, bromine, iodine and selenium in the human body with these diets in the central regions of the European part of Russia was evaluated.
Changes occurred in the 20th century in agricultural technology have led to a radical change in the natural biogeochemical food chains depending on the geographical features of human habitations. Modern agricultural technologies are impossible without using mineral fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and pre-treatment systems of planting material. The application of these technologies is already a powerful ecological and geochemical factor leading to changes in soil state of the region, changing its trace element composition and acid-base balance.
Radical changes have taken place in the technology of food production. Some products are refined and degreased; others are enriched with vitamins, trace elements, and biologically active additives. All these processes lead to a change in the macro- and microelement composition of foodstuffs consumed. Consumption of these products may change the balance of micronutrients in the human body, which increases the likelihood of various kinds of pathologies [
Chlorine. Due to the high activity of chlorine it is not found in a free state in nature. Its natural compounds are widely known: chlorides of alkaline and alkaline-earth metals with the most common rock (table) salt NaCl, sylvinite (a mixture of potassium and sodium chlorides), and carnallite KСl∙МgCl2∙6Н2О. Chlorides of other metals can occur as admixtures to these minerals. The Clarke number of chlorine in the Earth crust is 0.013%, sea water contains up to 1.8% of chlorine [
Bromine. It is not found in a free state in nature. It does not form any independent minerals, and its compounds (mostly with the alkaline metals) are chlorinated mineral impurities such as rock salt, sylvinite and carnallite. Bromine compounds are also found in the waters of some lakes and drill holes. Bromine is a volatile reddish-brown liquid with an unpleasant, suffocating smell [
Iodine. Iodine compounds do not form separate deposits, and occur as impurities in the chlorine minerals. The drill hole waters contain iodine salts. Iodine is a dark gray solid crystalline substance with a weak metallic glitter. Its chemical properties are similar to those of chlorine and bromine but iodine is less active. Its Clarke number in the Earth crust is 0.4 ppm. It is present in all living organisms, most of all in the algae (up to 5000 ppm) [
Selenium. Until the mid-80s of the last century selenium was considered as a toxic element, nowadays it is recognized as one of the most important food antioxidants, it helps to eliminate oxygen derivatives (free radicals) from the body. The selenium Clarke number in the Earth crust is 0.1 ppm. In friable alkaline well-aerated soils selenium is present largely in the form of selenates that are highly soluble and easily absorbed by plants. In acidic waterlogged soils selenium is in the form of hardly soluble complexes with iron that possess an extremely low availability for the plants [
In some countries, such as Finland, the issue was resolved by adding selenium-containing fertilizers to the soil. In our country, the wide use of selenium-containing dietary supplements seems to be more acceptable. However, most of the commercially available in Russia dietary supplements are mixtures of inorganic selenium salts with organic filler (topinambour, etc.). Obviously, they should not be considered as substances with organic selenium, because in this case no incorporation of selenium into the organic compounds occurs [
Thus, according to the participation in biological processes chlorine belongs to the structural elements, iodine is an essential element, and selenium is one of the most effective antioxidants needed for the normal functioning of iodine. The bromine role in biological processes is currently not clearly established, however, it is widely used in medicine, and its substantial presence in all biological objects is recorded by many researchers and cannot be questioned. Since chlorine, bromine, iodine and selenium enter our body mainly through the digestive tract, deficiency of these elements occurs mainly due to malnutrition.
As follows from literature, the nutrition of the average person in the European part of Russia should be considered as sufficient or overabundant according to chlorine intake, absolutely scarce according to iodine intake and close to scarce according to selenium intake [
Of course, this is true only in a very general way. Obviously, the intake level of these elements into the human body depends entirely on the quality of the diet and drinking water consumed. Both factors have a high variability and depend on the region where the people live. Therefore, the goal of this study is to assess the real income of this group of elements into the human body in the European Russian regions taking into account different diets specific to these regions. The trace element income with drinking water into the human body is a separate big topic and is not considered in this paper. To achieve the stated goal of this work, the following tasks were:
• Sampling and analysis of food;
• Analysis of the existing range of basic food diets and selection of the most common diets for the population;
• Calculation of chlorine, bromine, iodine and selenium incomes for each selected diet in the test region;
• Comparison of the actual and required daily intake of chlorine, bromine, iodine and selenium in the human body with given diets based on these calculations.
Specificity of food consumption in large and medium-sized cities on the one hand, small towns and rural areas, on the other hand, has substantial differences. In the first case, people have free access to all retailers and services that exist in this city. Choice of retailers and the food is random, depending on personal preference and level of income of a particular individual. In the second case, a large share of the population nutrition is food products grown on private garden plots and farms. Therefore, during this study, sampling of foodstuffs was arranged by random sampling from the retail network of cities, farms and personal areas of central Russia. Every sample was taken from different places in the total number of samples 10 - 30. A total of about 2000 individual samples were collected. List of food items was selected based on the specifics of the nutrition of the Russian population [
Sampling of foodstuff was performed in retail outlets, personal and farming enterprises of the central part of the European Russia. The sampling of vegetables, fruits and berries was carried out directly in the places where they grow and in retail outlets. The sampling of the fungi mycothalluses was carried out in places where they grow in the Moscow, Kaluga, Tver, Gorky, Tula, Voronezh Oblast, the White Sea State Reserve and Karelia. Samples of meat, meat products, marine fish, milk products, bread and cereals were selected in the retail network in Moscow, Podolsk, Kaluga, Gus-Khrustalny and some other cities of the European part of Russia. River fish was partly taken from retail outlets, partly caught in the Oka River, Moskva River, Osyotr River, the upper and lower reaches of the Volga River and the Akhtuba River.
A general list and the number of food samples are given in the
Food samples were stored collected in plastic zip-lock bags, were cleaned from external contamination, washed with distilled water, dried at 60˚C and grinded up to a size of <1 mm. Samples prepared in this way were received for analysis.
Analysis of trace element composition of the samples was carried out in the laboratory of the Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) and in the Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics (FLNP) of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) (Dubna) using the instrumental neutron activation analysis. The analysis was performed at the research reactor IBR-2 of the FLNP in the JINR. Induced activity was measured with spectrometers based on ultrapure germanium detectors of the large volume of the companies “Canberra” and “Ortec” with an energy resolution of 1.3 - 1.5 keV for the Со60 1332 keV line. The experimental facilities are described elsewhere [
No. | Foodstuffs | Number of samples (n) | No. | Foodstuffs | Number of samples (n) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cereals, bread | Mushrooms | ||||
1 | Oats grains | 10 | 47 | Cepe | 29 |
2 | Oats flakes | 11 | 48 | Brown cap boletus | 20 |
3 | Buckwheat | 12 | 49 | Orange cap boletus | 11 |
4 | Rice | 18 | 50 | Yellow boletus | 7 |
5 | Millet | 9 | 51 | Saffron milk cap | 5 |
6 | Semolina | 7 | 52 | Agaric honey | 13 |
7 | Noodles | 12 | 53 | Paxil | 12 |
8 | Wheat grain | 7 | 54 | Chanterelle | 17 |
9 | Wheat flour | 5 | 55 | Russule | 15 |
10 | Wheat bread | 9 | 56 | Coral milky cap | 6 |
11 | Rye grains | 5 | 57 | Champignon | 21 |
12 | Rye flour | 6 | 58 | Oyster mushroom | 11 |
13 | Rye bread | 11 | 59 | Champignon (agrofirm) | 11 |
Vegetables, greens, legumes | 60 | Oyster mushroom (agrofirm) | 10 | ||
14 | Potatoes | 63 | Fish, seafood | ||
15 | Beet | 24 | 61 | Pike | 7 |
16 | Cabbage | 22 | 62 | Asp | 6 |
17 | Celery cabbage | 10 | 63 | Sabrefish | 7 |
18 | Garden radish | 11 | 64 | European carp | 6 |
19 | Radish | 21 | 65 | Roach | 7 |
20 | Aubergines | 9 | 66 | Bream | 9 |
21 | Tomatoes | 26 | 67 | Pikeperch | 5 |
22 | Carrots | 57 | 68 | Sheatfish | 5 |
23 | Maize | 18 | 69 | Zope | 5 |
24 | Spinach | 19 | 70 | River perch | 9 |
25 | Parsley | 22 | 71 | Cod | 11 |
26 | Bulb onion | 15 | 72 | Herring | 5 |
27 | Garlic | 9 | 73 | Mullet | 7 |
28 | Lettuce | 24 | 74 | Grouper | 6 |
29 | Dill | 20 | 75 | Flatfish | 5 |
30 | Haricot | 13 | 76 | Alaska pollack | 10 |
31 | Lentil | 5 | 77 | Mackerel icefishe | 6 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
32 | Peas | 5 | 78 | Shrimps | 14 |
33 | Soya beans | 16 | 79 | Squid | 5 |
Fruits, berries | Meat, byproducts | ||||
34 | Apple | 19 | 80 | Beef (meat) | 23 |
35 | Pear | 17 | 81 | Pork (meat) | 18 |
36 | Plum | 9 | 82 | Chicken (meat) | 15 |
37 | Citruses | 32 | 83 | Turkey (meat) | 13 |
38 | Banana | 15 | 84 | Beef tripe | 9 |
39 | Cranberries | 10 | 85 | Beef liver | 13 |
40 | Strawberries | 16 | 86 | Beef kidneys | 11 |
41 | Wild strawberries | 6 | 87 | Beef heart | 17 |
42 | Honeysuckle | 17 | 88 | Beef lung | 7 |
43 | Raspberries | 10 | 89 | Hen’s eggs | 12 |
44 | Currants | 16 | 90 | Sausages | 28 |
45 | Cherries | 8 | Milk products, coffee, tea, sugar | ||
46 | Gooseberries | 10 | 91 | Dried milk | 10 |
92 | Milk products | 15 | |||
93 | Coffee | 30 | |||
94 | Tea | 39 | |||
95 | Sugar | 11 |
The QC/QA of the results was performed by analyzing the encrypted standard samples. The quality and reliability of the analytical work were systematically confirmed during the analytical tests as part of the international cooperation programs [
These concentrations give an idea of the food poor or rich in Cl, Br, I and Se. This is important when choosing a product for a balanced diet. For example, high levels of all three halogens are in seafood and dried milk. In addition, high levels of Cl is observed in bread, chicken meat and byproducts, Br is present in oats flakes, rice, millet, semolina, peas, soya beans, coffee and tea, and I is found in oats flakes, turkey meat and tea. The highest content of Se is found in cepes, wild champignons, meat byproducts, river fish and shrimps.
However, the values of these data are not high enough in case when there is no information on the population diets. Obviously, in order to calculate the elements intake in the human body it is necessary to know the structure of the diet.
Foodstuff | Cl | Br | I | Se |
---|---|---|---|---|
Oats flakes | 497 ± 82 | 6.45 ± 2.1 | 0.047 ± 0.012 | <0.02 |
Buckwheat | 45 ± 12 | 0.41 ± 0.39 | 0.002 ± 0.002 | <0.02 |
Rice | 362 ± 140 | 20.4 ± 12 | 0.003 ± 0.002 | 0.23 ± 0.12 |
Millet | 393 ± 42 | 19.1 ± 2.2 | 0.005 ± 0.003 | 0.26 ± 0.05 |
Semolina | 603 ± 180 | 14.4 ± 4.2 | 0.009 ± 0.004 | <0.02 |
Noodles | 516 ± 68 | 2.33 ± 1.22 | 0.002 ± 0.001 | 0.16 ± 0.11 |
Wheat bread | 1450 ± 510 | 4.33 ± 0.72 | 0.003 ± 0.002 | <0.02 |
Rye bread | 1300 ± 510 | 2.85 ± 0.92 | 0.013 ± 0.011 | <0.02 |
Potatoes | 392 ± 207 | 0.27 ± 0.21 | 0.002 ± 0.001 | <0.02 |
Cabbage | 750 ± 320 | 0.13 ± 0.05 | <0.003 | <0.02 |
Tomatoes | 225 ± 38 | 0.34 ± 0.22 | <0.003 | <0.02 |
Carrots | 753 ± 481 | 0.25 ± 0.23 | 0.004 ± 0.003 | <0.02 |
Haricot | 990 ± 210 | 0.42 ± 0.23 | 0.035 ± 0.02 | <0.02 |
Peas | 365 ± 160 | 15.2 ± 3.8 | 0.006 ± 0.002 | <0.02 |
Soya beans | 510 ± 100 | 1.56 ± 0.45 | 0.003 ± 0.002 | 0.15 ± 0.13 |
Fruits | 34 ± 11 | 0.066 ± 0.04 | 0.003 ± 0.001 | 0.024 ± 0.01 |
Berries | 78 ± 14 | 0.093 ± 0.08 | 0.002 ± 0.001 | <0.02 |
Cepe | 188 ± 141 | 1.61 ± 1.28 | 0.0069 ± 0.006 | 1.08 ± 0.75 |
Champignon | 300 ± 197 | 0.37 ± 0.33 | 0.011 ± 0.009 | 0.65 ± 0.55 |
Champignon (agrofirm) | 189 ± 141 | 0.19 ± 0.07 | 0.006 ± 0.004 | 0.19 ± 0.14 |
Oyster mushroom | 35 ± 7.8 | 0.048 ± 0.02 | 0.005 ± 0.003 | 0.061 ± 0.013 |
Oyster mushroom (agrofirm) | 36 ± 5.6 | 0.048 ± 0.012 | 0.002 ± 0.001 | 0.034 ± 0.021 |
Beef (meat) | 478 ± 105 | 0.89 ± 0.19 | <0.003 | 0.027 ± 0.009 |
Pork (meat) | 715 ± 128 | 1.67 ± 0.15 | 0.015 ± 0.008 | 0.12 ± 0.04 |
Chicken (meat) | 1530 ± 227 | 4.04 ± 3.32 | 0.011 ± 0.01 | 0.12 ± 0.05 |
Turkey (meat) | 424 ± 148 | 0.59 ± 0.33 | 0.029 ± 0.012 | 0.071 ± 0.03 |
Byproducts | 1646 ± 612 | 4.68 ± 4.1 | 0.008 ± 0.005 | 0.78 ± 0.66 |
River fish | 971 ± 395 | 2.2 ± 1.6 | 0.016 ± 0.006 | 0.55 ± 0.48 |
Salt-water fish | 2316 ± 1450 | 12.9 ± 8.8 | 0.09 ± 0.05 | 0.27 ± 0.2 |
Shrimps | 6471 ± 1854 | 350 ± 227 | 0.027 ± 0.016 | 0.59 ± 0.32 |
Squid | 3998 ± 762 | 24.4 ± 9.3 | 0.011 ± 0.01 | 0.12 ± 0.05 |
Dried milk | 9160 ± 3560 | 56 ± 19 | 0.11 ± 0.08 | <0.02 |
Milk products | 580 ± 230 | 5.32 ± 2.62 | <0.003 | <0.02 |
Coffee | 456 ± 388 | 8.83 ± 4.8 | 0.012 ± 0.003 | <0.02 |
Tea | 938 ± 210 | 6.33 ± 0.15 | 0.035 ± 0.015 | 0.12 ± 0.09 |
Sugar | 16 ± 3.5 | <0.05 | <0.003 | <0.02 |
Of the many existing diets in Russia as a result of the undertaken analysis we selected 6 rations. These diets were chosen based on the following criteria:
1) The diet should consist of foods most common and available in these regions;
2) They shall cover the price range of the minimum food basket to the level of income above average;
3) The diet should reflect the nutrition for athletes (sportsmen) and baby food.
1) Daily diet No. 1 [
2) The structure of the diet No. 2 [
3) Diet No. 3 is so called “Kremlin” diet [
4) In the athletes diet No. 4 [
5) The diet No. 5 was recommended in 2002 for schoolchildren 11 - 17 years old by the Department of the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare in Moscow. This diet is characterized by a large proportion of vegetables (20%), fruits (15%), bread and noodles (17%), potatoes (15%), milk products (15%), meat, game and fish (14% all together). The total food weight excluding milk and fruit juices is 2092 g [
Foodstuff/diet No. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Butter, milk products, cottage cheese, cheese | 4.8 | 10 | 22 | 10 | 23 | 25.7 |
Meat, meat products | 6 | 7.6 | 13 | 16.3 | 7.6 | 7.7 |
Game | 5 | 2.2 | 17 | 2.7 | 5.4 | 5.7 |
Fish, seafood | - | 11 | 11 | 3.7 | 4.6 | 4.8 |
Hen’s eggs | 1.2 | 1.5 | 7 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 1.4 |
Potatoes | 23 | 14.5 | - | 11 | 14 | 11.2 |
Vegetables, greens | 15 | 12 | 14 | 21.7 | 14.6 | 14 |
Fruits | 1 | 12 | 12 | 20.3 | 12 | 12.2 |
Bread, noodles | 19 | 9.2 | - | 4.3 | 10.5 | 10.4 |
Cereals, legumes | 20 | 15.5 | - | 2.1 | 3 | 2.9 |
Pastry, sugar | 4 | 5 | - | 4.9 | 3.5 | 3.6 |
Tea, coffee | 1 | 1 | - | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
Mushrooms | - | - | 4 | - | - | - |
Total weight without fluids, g | 1400 | 1400 | 1048 | 1835 | 2092 | 1850 |
6) The diet No. 6 was recommended in 2008 for teenagers over 12 years by the Department of the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare in Moscow and the Institute of Hygiene and children and teenagers health protection. This food set is similar to the diet No. 5. The total weight of food consumed without milk and fruit juices is about 1850 g [
Of course, the diet of each person (family) is individual; however, provided diets cover almost the entire nutrition range of the Russian population from a minimum set of “food basket” and school nutrition to the athletic and dietary nutrition. Therefore, we can assume that the entire set of currently existing diets can be reduced to six suggested in this paper.
Using the data on the composition and structure of food diets (
It should be mentioned that selenium has a toxic dose of daily intake which is 55 mg/day and it is not exceeded in any of presented diets. The data shown in
Coefficient values Kr calculated by the Formula (1) for Cl, I, and Se are presented in
The following conclusions based on the analysis above can be drawn:
1) Chlorine income in presented diets is lower or close to the physiologically needed value (it should not be forgotten that a big part of chlorine comes from the drinking water, which is not taken into account in this study);
Element | Requirement | Income, mg/day (Mr) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(Mph) | Diet 1 | Diet 2 | Diet 3 | Diet 4 | Diet 5 | Diet 6 | |
mg/day [ | |||||||
Cl | 3200 | 979 | 1585 | 1920 | 2154 | 2270 | 1713 |
Br | - | 5.54 | 6.49 | 7.1 | 7.5 | 11 | 8.3 |
I | 0.06 - 0.2 | 0.01 | 0.015 | 0.017 | 0.018 | 0.023 | 0.017 |
Se | 0.06 - 0.15 (55) | 0.15 | 0.24 | 0.25 | 0.27 | 0.2 | 0.17 |
Element | Kr | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Diet 1 | Diet 2 | Diet 3 | Diet 4 | Diet 5 | Diet 6 | |
Cl | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.5 |
I | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
Se | 1.4 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 1.9 | 1.6 |
2) Bromine income with all diets is considerable, but sufficiently lower than the toxic limit (3 g per day);
3) The deficiency of iodine income to the human body in the central regions of the European part of Russia is confirmed. The iodine income in all the diets is of 0.1 - 0.2 of the physiologically needed amount. Improvement of this situation without breaking the natural balance of trace elements income is possible only through consumption of the food artificially enriched with this element (iodized salt, eggs, etc.). It should be taken into account that iodine is a volatile element and almost completely disappears by prolonged heat treatment.
4) The deficient or close to deficient intake of selenium is not confirmed. Income of this element with all enlisted rations is even a little higher than necessary (by factor of 1.4 - 2.6). Therefore, we can state that in any of the above diets, no selenium deficiency is observed and there is no need in measures for increasing selenium income. This should be considered separately, because selenium toxic dose is 55 mg per day, and an overdose can lead to intoxication.