SELENIUM IN DIET, BLOOD, AND TOENAILS IN RELATION TO HUMAN HEALTH IN A SELENIFEROUS AREA

To determine whether high dietary selenium intake was associated with adverse effects, selenium in diet, blood, and toenails was studied in relation to human health in adults residing in western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming. Over a 2-y period 142 subjects were recruited from households selected at random and from ranches where unusually high selenium intakes were suspected. Subjects completed health questionnaires, underwent physical examinations, provided blood samples for clinical assessment, and provided blood, urine, toenails, and duplicate-plate food collections for selenium analysis. About half of the 142 free-living subjects had selenium intakes > 2.54 mu-mol/d (200-mu-g/d) (range 0.86-9.20-mu-mol/d, or 68-724-mu-g/d). Physical findings characteristic of selenium toxicity were not present nor were clinically significant changes in laboratory tests or frequency of symptoms related to selenium in the blood, toenails, or diet. We found no evidence of toxicity from selenium in subjects whose intake was as high as 9.20-mu-mol/d (724-mu-g/d).