DIFFERENCES IN THE EFFECTS OF SELENITE AND BIOLOGICAL SELENIUM ON THE CHEMICAL FORM AND DISTRIBUTION OF MERCURY AFTER THE SIMULTANEOUS ADMINISTRATION OF HGCL2 AND SELENIUM TO RATS

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Abstract
The interaction was compared between inorganic (HgCl2) mercury and selenite (Na2SeO3) vs. the interaction between inorganic Hg and biological Se (a freeze-dried preparation of liver from rats treated with selenite). Organ concentrations of Se were always significantly lower after biological Se than after selenite. Biological Se affected the organ distribution of inorganic Hg differently than selenite. The speciation of Hg was affected by this form of Se. A mercury-selenite compound (presumably HgSe) accounted for a greater proportion of total Hg in tissues after selenite than after a dose biological Se. Administration of selenomethionine had a simliar effect on the speciation of Hg to that seen after biological Se. As the forms of Se in selonemethionine or Se deposited in the liver are most likely nearer than selenite to Se present in food, as far as the reaction of Hg with selenite is concerned, experiments, with selenite apparently overestimate the protective effect of dietary SE against inorganic Hg and possibly against methylmercury.