Urinary iodine excretion in Belarus children

Abstract

Mityukova TA, Astakhova LN, Asenchyk LD, Orlov MM, VanMiddlesworth L. Urinary iodine excretion in Belarus children. Eur J Endocrinol 1995;133:216–7. ISSN 0804–4643. Casual urine samples were collected to determine iodine excretion of 1680 Belarus children during 1990–1994. The subjects, 8–16 years old, were from nine different regions of Belarus; 60% were from the Gomel oblast, which has been associated with relatively high levels of radioiodine fallout and increased incidence of thyroid cancer. Most of the median values indicate borderline/low iodine intake or mild iodine deficiency. Ranges were wide but 163 children excreted < 20 μgI/l urine and they should be considered severely deficient in iodine. L VanMiddlesworth, Dept. of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Tennessee, 894 Union Avenue, Memphis, TN 38163, USA