Environmental and Population Biomonitoring of Selenium in Eastern Croatia

Selenium is a trace element of vital importance for ecosystem functioning and human health mainly due to its antioxidant and protective properties. Since both selenium deficiency and excess can have harmful effects on living organisms, monitoring its distribution in biological systems and the environment is of significant scientific and public health interest. This study systematically assessed selenium concentrations in biological (urine, serum, and hair) and environmental (soil and dandelion) samples in eastern Croatia. Selenium concentrations were determined using the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry method. In biological samples, median selenium concentrations were from 15.02 to 37.15 μg·L−1 in urine, from 80.76 to 114.05 μg·L−1 in serum, and from 0.21 to 0.46 µg·g−1 in hair. In environmental samples, median selenium concentrations varied depending on location, ranging from 0.32 to 0.51 mg·kg−1 in soil and from 6.55 to 84.41 µg·kg−1 in dandelion. PCA was applied to identify overall patterns and groupings among biological and environmental samples, showing that dandelion samples from urban locations exhibited the highest selenium concentrations, indicating the influences of urban environmental conditions on selenium accumulation.