Abstract
Selenium (Se) is a naturally occurring metalloid element, which is essential to human and other animal health in trace amounts but is harmful in excess. Of all the elements, selenium has one of the narrowest ranges between dietary deficiency (<40μg day−1) and toxic levels (>400μgay−1) (WHO 1996), which makes it necessary to carefully control intakes by humans and other animals, hence, the importance of understanding the relationships between environmental exposure and health. Geology exerts a fundamental control on the concentrations of selenium in the soils on which we grow the crops and animals that form the human food chain. The selenium status of populations, animals, and crops varies markedly around the world as a result of different geological conditions. Because diet is the most important source of selenium in humans, understanding the biogeochemical controls on the distribution and mobility of environmental selenium is key to the assessment of selenium-related health risks. High selenium concentrations are associated with some phosphatic rocks, organic-rich black shales, coals, and sulfide mineralization, whereas most other rock types contain very low concentrations and selenium-deficient environments are far more widespread than seleniferous ones. However, health outcomes are not only dependent on the total selenium content of rocks and soils but also on the amount of selenium taken up into plants and animals—the bioavailable selenium. This chapter demonstrates that even soils containing adequate total amounts of selenium can still produce selenium-deficient crops if the selenium is not in a form ready for plant uptake.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Further Reading
Afzal S, Younas M, Ali K (2000) Selenium speciation studies from Soan-Sakesar Valley, salt range, Pakistan. Water Int 25:425–436
Akesson B, Steen B (1987) Plasma selenium and glutathione peroxidase in relation to cancer, angina pectoris and short-term mortality in 68-year-old men. Comprehens Gerontol A 1:61–64
Alfthan G, Xu GL, Tan WH, Aro A, Wu J, Yang YX, Liang WS, Xue WL, Kong LH (2000) Selenium supplementation of children in a selenium-deficient area in China—blood selenium levels and glutathione peroxidase activities. Biol Trace Elem Res 73(2):113–125
Amouroux D, Liss PS, Tessier E, Hamren-Larsson M, Donard OFX (2001) Role of the oceans as biogenic sources of selenium. Earth Planet Sci Lett 189(3–4):277–283
Ander EL, Fordyce FM, Johnson CC, Schofield DI (2010) Controls on the distribution of selenium in the soils of East Anglia, UK. Geological society of America abstract section meeting, Baltimore, Maryland, 13–16 March, p 143
Anonymous (2001) Observations on the effect of sodium selenite in the prevention of keshan disease (Reprinted from the Chinese Med J 92:471–476, 1979). J Trace Elem Exp Med 14(2):213–219
Aras NK, Nazli A, Zhang W, Chatt A (2001) Dietary intake of zinc and selenium in Turkey. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 249(1):33–37
Aro A, Alfthan G, Varo P (1995) Effects of supplementation of fertilizers on human selenium status in Finland. Analyst 120(3):841–843
Arthur JR, Beckett GT (1994) New metabolic roles for selenium. Proc Nutr Soc 53:615–624
ATSDR (2003) Toxicology profile for selenium. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Atlanta
Beck MA (1999) Selenium and host defense towards viruses. Proc Nutr Soc 58(3):707–711
Bedwal RS, Nair N, Sharma MP, Mathur RS (1993) Selenium—its biological perspectives. Med Hypotheses 41(2):150–159
Birt DF, Pour PM, Pelling JC (1989) The influence of dietary selenium on colon, pancreas and skin tumorigenesis. In: Wendel A (ed) Selenium in biology and medicine. Springer, Berlin, pp 297–304
Boyle RW (1979) The geochemistry of gold and its deposits: together with a chapter on geochemical prospecting for the element. Bulletin 280. Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa
British Geological Survey (2000) Regional geochemistry of Wales and part of West-Central England: stream sediment and soil. British Geological Survey, Keyworth
British Geological Survey (2011) London Earth. British Geological Survey, Keyworth. http://www.bgs.ac.uk/gbase/londonearth.html. Accessed Mar 2012
Broadley MR, White PJ, Bryson RJ, Meacham MC, Bowen HC, Johnson SE, Hawkesford MJ, McGrath SP, Zhao FJ, Breward N, Harriman M, Tucker M (2006) Biofortification of UK food crops with selenium. Proc Nutr Soc 65:1–14
Broadley MR, Alcock J, Alford J, Cartwright P, Fairweather-Tait SJ, Foot I, Fairweather-Tait SJ, Hart DJ, Hurst R, Knott P, McGrath SP, Meacham MC, Norman K, Mowat H, Norman K, Stroud JL, Tovey M, Tucker M, White PJ, Young SD, Zhao FJ (2010) Selenium biofortification of high-yielding winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) by liquid or granular Se fertilisation. Plant Soil 32(1–2):5–18
Burk RF (ed) (1994) Selenium in biology and human health. Springer, New York
Cao ZH, Wang XC, Yao DH, Zhang XL, Wong MH (2000) Selenium geochemistry of paddy soils in the Yangtze river delta. Environ Int 26(5–6):335–339
Chen X, Yang G, Chen J, Chen X, Wen Z, Ge K (1980) Studies on the relations of selenium and keshan disease. Biol Trace Elem Res 2:91–107
Chilimba ADC, Young SD, Black CR, Rogerson KB, Ander EL, Watts MJ, Lammel J, Broadley MR (2011) Maize grain and soil surveys reveal suboptimal dietary selenium intake is widespread in Malawi. Sci Rep 1(72):1–9
Clark LC, Combs GF, Turnbill BW, Slate EH, Chalker DK, Chow J, Davies LS, Glover RA, Graham GF, Gross EG, Krongrad A, Lesher JL, Park HK, Sander BG, Smith CL, Taylor JR (1996) Effects of selenium supplementation for cancer prevention in patients with carcinoma of the skin. J Am Med Assoc 276:1957–1963
Combs GF, Combs SB (1986) The role of selenium in nutrition. Academic, Orlando
Cutter GA, Bruland KW (1984) The marine biogeochemistry of selenium: a re-evaluation. Liminol Oceanogr 29:1179–1192
Darnley AG, Björklund A, Bølviken B, Gustavsson N, Koval PV, Plant JA, Steenfelt A, Tauchid M, Xuejing Xie X (1995) A global geochemical database for environmental and resource management. Recommendations for international geochemical mapping, earth science report 19. UNESCO Publishing, Paris
Davies EB, Watkinson JH (1966) Uptake of native and applied selenium by Pasture species. N Z J Agric Res 9:317–324
Dhillon KS, Dhillon SK, Thind HS (2008) Evaluation of different agroforestry tree species for their suitability in the phytoremediation of seleniferous soils. Soil Use Manage 24:208–216
DOE (1996) Code of practice for agricultural use of sewage sludge. Department of the Environment, HMSO, London
EA (2009) Soil guideline values for selenium in soil. Science report SC050021. UK Environment Agency, Bristol
Fairweather-Tait SJ, Collings R, Hurst R (2010) Selenium bioavailability: current knowledge and future research requirements. Am J Clin Nutr 91:1484S–1491S
Fergusson JE (1990) The heavy elements: chemistry, environmental impact and health effects. Pergamon, London
Finley JW, Ip C, Lisk DJ, Davis CD, Hintze KJ, Whanger PD (2001) Cancer-protective properties of high-selenium broccoli. J Agric Food Chem 49(5):2679–2683
Fleming GA (1980) Essential micronutrients II: iodine and selenium. In: Davis BE (ed) Applied soil trace elements. Wiley, New York, pp 199–234
Fordyce FM, Zhang G, Green K, Liu X (1998) Soil, grain and water chemistry and human selenium imbalances in Enshi District, Hubei Province, China, overseas geology series technical report WC/96/54. British Geological Survey, Keyworth
Fordyce FM, Johnson CC, Navaratne URB, Appleton JD, Dissanayake CB (2000a) Selenium and iodine in soil, rice and drinking water in relation to endemic goiter in Sri Lanka. Sci Tot Environ 263(1–3):127–142
Fordyce FM, Zhang G, Green K, Liu X (2000b) Soil, grain and water chemistry and human selenium imbalances in Enshi District, Hubei Province, China. Appl Geochem 15(1):117–132
Fordyce FM, Brereton N, Hughes J, Luo W, Lewis J (2010) An initial study to assess the use of geological parent materials to predict the Se concentration in overlying soils and in five staple foodstuffs produced on them in Scotland. Sci Tot Environ 408(22):5295–5305
Fordyce FM, Nice SE, Lister TR, Ó Dochartaigh BÉ, Cooper R, Allen M, Ingham M, Gowing C, Vickers BP, Scheib A (2012) Urban soil geochemistry of Glasgow, open report, OR/08/002. British Geological Survey, Edinburgh
Franke KW (1934) A new toxicant occurring naturally in certain samples of plant foodstuffs. 1. Results obtained in preliminary feeding trials. J Nutr 8:597–608
FSA (2009) Survey on measurement of the concentrations of metals and other elements from the 2006 UK total diet study. Food survey information sheet 01/09. Food Standards Agency, London
Gawalko E, Garrett RG, Warkentin T, Wang N, Richter A (2009) Trace elements in Canadian field peas: a grain safety assurance perspective. Food Add Contamin 26(7):1002–1012
GSNI (2012) The Tellus project. Geological Survey of Northern Ireland, Belfast. http://www.bgs.ac.uk/gsni/tellus/geochemical_survey/index.html. Accessed Mar 2012
Hartikainen H, Xue TL, Piironen V (2000) Selenium as an anti-oxidant and pro-oxidant in ryegrass. Plant Soil 225(1–2):193–200
Hawkes WC, Turek PJ (2001) Effects of dietary selenium on sperm motility in healthy men. J Androl 22(5):764–772
Haygarth PM (1994) Global importance and cycling of selenium. In: Frankenberger WT, Benson S (eds) Selenium in the environment. Marcel-Dekker, New York, pp 1–28
Hem J (1992) Study and interpretation of the chemical characteristics of natural water, water supply paper 2254. U. S. Geological Survey, Reston
Hira CK, Partal K, Dhillon KS (2004) Dietary selenium intake by men and women in high and low selenium areas of Punjab. Public Health Nutr 7(1):39–43
Jacobs LW (ed) (1989) Selenium in agriculture and the environment, Soil Science Society of America special publication 23. SSSA, Madison
Johnson CC, Ge X, Green KA, Liu X (2000) Selenium distribution in the local environment of selected villages of the keshan disease belt, Zhangjiakou District, Hebei Province, People’s Republic of China. Appl Geochem 15(3):385–401
Johnson CC, Fordyce FM, Rayman MP (2010) Factors controlling the distribution of selenium in the environment and their impact on health and nutrition. Proc Nutr Soc 69(1):119–132
Kohrle J (1999) The trace element selenium and the thyroid gland. Biochimie 81(5):527–533
Levander OA (1986) Selenium. In: Mertz W (ed) Trace elements in human and animal nutrition. Academic, London, pp 139–197
Li Y, Peng T, Yang Y, Niu C, Archard LC, Zhang H (2000) High prevalence of enteroviral genomic sequences in myocardium from cases of endemic cardiomyopathy (keshan disease) in China. Heart 83(6):696–701
Li S, Xiao T, Zheng B (2012) Medical geology of arsenic, selenium and thallium in China. Sci Tot Environ 421–422:31–40
Lippman SM, Klein EA, Goodman PJ, Lucia MS, Thompson IM, Ford LG et al (33 authors) (2009) Effect of selenium and vitamin E on risk of prostate cancer and other cancers: the selenium and vitamin E cancer prevention trial (SELECT). J Am Med Assoc 301(1):39–51
Longombe AO, Arnaud J, Mpio T, Favier AE (1994) Serum selenium in HIV-infected Zairian patients. Trace Elem Electrolytes 11(2):99–100
Lyons MP, Papazyan TT, Surai PF (2007) Selenium in food chain and animal nutrition: lessons from nature. Asian-Aust J Anim Sci 20(7):1135–1155
MAFF (1997) Food surveillance information sheet of the Joint Food Safety and Standards Group, 126. Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food, London
Mahapatra S, Tripathi RM, Raghunath R, Sadasivan S (2001) Daily intake of selenium by the adult population of Mumbai, India. Sci Tot Environ 277(1–3):217–223
Mayland HF (1994) Selenium in plant and animal nutrition. In: Frankenberger WT, Benson S (eds) Selenium in the environment. Marcel-Dekker, New York, pp 29–47
Moreno-Reyes R, Egrise D, Neve J, Pasteels JL, Schoutens A (2001) Selenium deficiency-induced growth retardation is associated with an impaired bone metabolism and osteopenia. J Bone Miner Res 16(8):1556–1563
Moxon AL (1937) Alkali disease or selenium poisoning, Bulletin 311. South Dakota Agricultural Experimental Station, Vermillion
Moxon AL (1938) The effect of arsenic on the toxicity of seleniferous grains. Science 88:81
Murphy J, Cashman KD (2001) Selenium content of a range of Irish foods. Food Chem 74(4):493–498
Muth OH, Allaway WH (1963) The relationship of white muscle disease to the distribution of naturally occurring selenium. J Am Vet Med Assoc 142:1380
Neal RH (1995) Selenium. In: Alloway BJ (ed) Heavy metals in soils. Blackie Academic & Professional, London, pp 260–283
Nriagu JO (1989) Occurrence and distribution of selenium. CRC Press, Boca Raton
Nriagu JO (1991) Heavy metals in the environment, vol 1. CEP Consultants, Edinburgh
Oldfield JE (1999) Selenium world atlas. Selenium-Tellurium Development Association, Grimbergen
Papp LA, Lu J, Holmgren A, Khanna KK (2007) From selenium to selenoproteins: synthesis, identity, and their role in human health. Antioxid Redox Signal 9:775–806
Peng A, Wang WH, Wang CX, Wang ZJ, Rui HF, Wang WZ, Yang ZW (1999) The role of humic substances in drinking water in Kashin-Beck disease in China. Environ Health Perspect 107(4):293–296
Pineda-Valdes G, Bullerman LB (2000) Thermal stability of moniliformin at varying temperature, pH and time in an aqueous environment. J Food Prot 63(11):1589–1601
Plant JA, Kinniburgh D, Smedley P, Fordyce FM, Klinck B (2004) Chapter 9.02: Arsenic and selenium. In: Lollar SB (ed) Environmental geochemistry, vol 9, Treatise on geochemistry series, Holland HD, Turekain KK (Exec Eds). Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 17–66
Rapant S, Vrana K, Bodis D (1996) Geochemical atlas of Slovakia: Part 1 Groundwater. Geological Survey of the Slovak Republic, Bratislava
Rawlins BG, McGrath SP, Scheib AJ, Breward N, Cave M, Lister TR, Ingham M, Gowing C, Carter S (2012) The advanced soil geochemical atlas of England and Wales. British Geological Survey, Keyworth
Rayman M (2008) Food-chain selenium and human health: emphasis on intake. Br J Nutr 100:254–268
Rayman M (2012) Selenium and human health. Lancet 379:1256–1268
Rayman M, Goenaga Infante H, Sargent M (2008) Food-chain selenium and human health: spotlight on speciation. Br J Nutr 100:238–253
Reilly C (2006) Selenium in food and health. Springer, New York
Reimann C, Caritat P (1998) Chemical elements in the environment. Springer, Heidelberg
Romero CD, Blanco FL, Sanchez PH, Rodriguez E, Majem LS (2001) Serum selenium concentration in a representative sample of the Canarian population. Sci Total Environ 269(1–3):65–73
Rosenfield I, Beath OA (1964) Selenium, geobotany, biochemistry, toxicity and nutrition. Academic Press, New York
Rotruck JT, Pope AL, Ganther HE, Swanson AB, Hafeman DG, Hoekstra WG (1969) Selenium: biochemical role as a component of glutathione peroxidase. Science 179:588–590
Ruston D, Henderson L, Gregory J, Bates CJ, Prentice A, Birch M et al (2004) Nutritional status (anthropometry and blood analytes), blood pressure and physical activity. In: The national diet and nutrition survey: adults aged 19–64 years, vol 4. The Stationary Office, London
Sasaki S, Iwata H, Ishiguron N, Habuchi O, Miura T (1994) Low-selenium diet, bone and articular-cartilage in rats. Nutrition 10(6):538–543
Schwarz K, Foltz CM (1957) Selenium as an integral part of factor 3 against dietary necrotic liver degeneration. J Am Chem Soc 79:3292–3293
Shamberger RJ, Frost DV (1969) Possible protective effect of selenium against human cancer. Can Med Assoc J 100:682
Shimada T, Murayama N, Tanaka K, Takenaka S, Guengerich FP, Yamazaki H, Komori M (2011) Spectral modification and catalytic inhibition of human cytochromes P450 1A1, 1A2, 1B1, 2A6, and 2A13 by four chemopreventive organoselenium compounds. Chem Res Toxicol 24(8):1327–1337
Smith MI, Westfall BB (1937) Public health report 52. U. S. Public Health Department, Washington, DC
Suetens C, Moreno-Reyes R, Chasseur C, Mathieu F, Begaux F, Haubruge E, Durand MC, Neve J, Vanderpas J (2001) Epidemiological support for a multifactorial etiology of Kashin-Beck disease in tibet. Int Orthop 25(3):180–187
Tan J (ed) (1989) The atlas of endemic diseases and their environments in the People’s Republic of China. Science Press, Beijing
Tan J, Wang W, Yang L, Zhu W, Li R, Hou S (1999) The approaches to amelioration of selenium eco-cycle in selenium-deficient biogeochemical area and its effects on selenium dietary intake and health in China. In: Wenzel WW, Adriano DC, Alloway BE, Doner HE, Keller C, Lepp M, Mench R, Naidu R, Pierzynski GM (eds) Proceedings of the 5th international conference on the biogeochemistry of trace elements 2, Vienna, Austria, pp 620–621
Taylor SR, McLennan SM (1985) The continental crust: its composition and evolution. Blackwell, Oxford
Thomson CD (2004) Selenium and iodine intakes and status in New Zealand and Australia. Br J Nutr 91:661–672
Thornton I, Kinniburgh DG, Pullen G, Smith CA (1983) Geochemical aspects of selenium in British soils and implications to animal health. In: Hemphill DD (ed) Trace substances in environmental health XVII. University of Missouri, Columbia, pp 391–398
Tokunaga T, Pickering I, Brown G (1996) Selenium transformations in ponded sediments. Soil Sci Soc Am J 60:781–790
U.S.-EPA (2002) Toxic release inventory 2002. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington. Accessed via Scorecard.org. http://scorecard.goodguide.com/. Accessed Apr 2012
U.S.-EPA (2004) Draft aquatic life water quality criteria for selenium – 2004. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
U.S.-EPA (2012) Basic information about selenium in drinking water fact sheet. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
USGS (2007) 2006 minerals yearbook – selenium and tellurium. United States Geological Survey, Reston, Washington, DC
USGS (2011) 2010 minerals yearbook – selenium and tellurium. United States Geological Survey, Reston, Washington, DC
Varo P, Alfthan G, Ekholm P, Aro A (1998) Effects of selenium supplementation fertilizer on human nutrition and selenium status. In: Frankenberger WT, Engberg RA (eds) Environmental chemistry of selenium. Marcel-Dekker, New York
Vinceti M, Rothman KJ, Bergomi M, Borciani N, Serra L, Vivoli G (1998) Excess melanoma incidence in a cohort exposed to high levels of environmental selenium. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 7:853–856
Vinceti M, Rovesti S, Bergomi M, Vivoli G (2000) The epidemiology of selenium and human cancer. Tumori 86:105–118
World Health Organization (1987) Environmental health criterion 58—selenium. World Health Organization, Geneva
World Health Organization (1996) Trace elements in human nutrition and health. World Health Organization, Geneva
World Health Organization (2011) Guidelines for drinking water quality, 4th edn. World Health Organization, Geneva
Wu L (1994) Selenium accumulation and colonization of plants in soils with elevated selenium and salinity. In: Frankenberger WT, Benson S (eds) Selenium in the environment. Marcel-Dekker, New York, pp 279–326
Wu AS, Oldfield JE, Shull LR, Cheeke PR (1979) Specific effect of selenium deficiency on rat sperm. Biol Reprod 20:793–798
Wu L, Banuelos G, Guo X (2000) Changes of soil and plant tissue selenium status in an upland grassland contaminated by selenium-rich agricultural drainage sediment after ten years transformed from a wetland habitat. Exotoxicol Environ Saf 47(2):201–209
Xu G, Jiang Y (1986) Selenium and the prevalence of Keshan and Kashin-Beck diseases in China. In: Thornton I (ed) Proceedings of the first international symposium on geochemistry and health. Science Reviews Ltd., Northwood, pp 192–205
Yamashita Y, Yamashita M (2010) Identification of a novel selenium-containing compound, selenoneine, as the predominant chemical form of organic selenium in the blood of Bluefin Tuna. J Biol Chem 285(24):18134–18138
Yang G, Xia M (1995) Studies on human dietary requirements and safe range of dietary intakes of selenium in China and their application to the prevention of related endemic diseases. Biomed Environ Sci 8:187–201
Yang G, Wang S, Zhou R, Sun S (1983) Endemic selenium intoxication of humans in china. Am J Clin Nutr 37:872–881
Yang G, Yin S, Zhou R, Gu L, Yan B, Lui Y, Liu Y (1989) Studies of safe and maximal daily dietary selenium intake in a seleniferous area in China. Part 2. J Trace Elem Electrolytes Health Dis 3:123–129
Zhang WH, Neve J, Xu JP, Vanderpas J, Wang ZL (2001) Selenium, iodine and fungal contamination in Yulin district (People’s Republic of China) endemic for Kashin-Beck disease. Int Orthop 25(3):188–190
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Fordyce, F.M. (2013). Selenium Deficiency and Toxicity in the Environment. In: Selinus, O. (eds) Essentials of Medical Geology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4375-5_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4375-5_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-4374-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-4375-5
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)