Selenium in Environment and its Relationship with Kaschin-Beck Disease in Rangtang County, Sichuan Province
壤塘县大骨节病病区环境中硒的分布特征

Previous studies have shown that Kaschin-Beck Disease (KBD, a kind of endemic osteoarthropathic disease) is mainly distributed in the areas with low selenium in environment. At present, it has been controlled in most areas of China, but it is still relatively serious in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region. Rangtang County of Sichuan Province is located in the southeastern part of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The KBD prevalence rate in every village in the county is higher than 13.28%. In this paper, some villages are selected by KBD prevalence rate. Samples of cultivated topsoil (0-20cm), highland barley (Qingke), tsamba and drinking water were collected. The relationship between selenium contents in the samples and KBD prevalence rate were analyzed. The results show that the selenium concentrations in all KBD villages are very low, especially in higher prevalence rate villages. The sequences of selenium contents in cultivated topsoil and highland barley grains are MKBD (middle prevalence rate villages) >HKBD (high prevalence rate villages)>VHKBD (very high prevalence rate villages) and those in tsamba (a kind of food made of highland barley and other adding materials) are MKBD>HKBD≈VHKBD. Selenium concentrations in drinking water in VHKBD villages are also higher than those in MKBD and HKBD villages though the selenium levels between drinking water types are different. There are close relationships between KBD prevalence rate and selenium concentrations in the local environment, especially in foodstuff. Because the selenium in drinking water plays a less role in daily selenium intake of resident populations under the low selenium condition, it is important to import high selenium content grains or add selenium in food for KBD controlling and prevention in the area.