Paper’s Study Prompts Review of Health Risks From Selenium
Officials in the federal government and Western states are reviewing potential selenium-related human health risks found in a seven-month newspaper study, it was reported Thursday.
In articles published Sunday and Monday, the Sacramento Bee reported evidence of toxic levels of the trace element selenium in the basic food supply of millions of Americans.
The federal Food and Drug Administration advised the Bee on Wednesday that it plans a thorough review of the report, although officials said their own tests to date indicated no health threat.
Officials of the U.S. Interior Department acknowledged that their own studies overlooked potential risks to people who eat fish and waterfowl that are tainted with selenium. Further studies will be conducted at seven Western sites, officials told the Bee.
State governments are also taking action as a result of the newspaper investigation, including those of Colorado and Montana.
Other states found to have especially high concentrations of selenium in water and plants are Oregon, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Nevada. The Bee investigation also found elevated selenium levels in supermarket foods in Sacramento, Chicago, Washington, Atlanta, Great Falls, Mont., Rapid City, S.D., and Montrose, Colo.
Selenium, an inorganic element in soil, is essential for healthy growth in humans and animals--in very small doses. At higher levels, it is a poison that can cause infertility, birth defects, a weakened immune system, damaged nervous system, and potentially severe damage to liver, kidneys, heart and brain.
Relatively high but spotty concentrations of selenium are found in the arid West, where it enters farmland by erosion in some localities. Irrigation drainage can carry it into marshes and ground water. Animals absorb it by ingesting selenium-tainted water and plants. Selenium also is added to livestock and poultry feeds in selenium-deficient regions, and marketed in health food stores as a nutritional supplement.
