Speciation of Se(IV) and Se(VI) in Human Blood Samples from Residents of Wassa West District, a Mining Impacted Area of Ghana

Abstract

This paper examines the speciation of selenium(IV)  (selenite)  and selenium(VI) (selenate) levels in human whole blood samples  from Tarkwa and its environs, a mining impacted area in Ghana, using hydride generation atomic absorption spectrophotometric technique.

Selenium(IV) in the experimental subjects ranged from 0.08±0.01 µg/mL to 0.50±0.02µg/mL with a mean of 0.29 µg/mL, while the controlsranged 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 levels of selenium(IV)concentrations in experimental and controlsubjects(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 amean 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 exited between the levels of selenium(VI) in experimental and the control subjects (p=5.98 x10^-14<0.05). The measurement precision determined by relative standard deviation was within ±5%. The accuracy of the determination was evaluated by analysing certified standard human hair reference material GBW 09101. The observed valueswere within ±6% of the certified values.