Exposure of man to environmental selenium - an exposure commitment assessment.

Selenium is an element which occurs naturally in varying concentrations in soil and is released from industrial sources, particularly from fossil fuel combustion. Harmful effects in animals and man may result from both deficient or excessive amounts of intake. Representative values of selenium concentrations in the background environment and in man are selected from available data and a pathway analysis is performed utilizing the exposure commitment method. Dietary intake of selenium is of the order of 70 micrograms d-1. With fractional absorption of 80% and retention in the body of 90% for an effective retention time of 140 days, the estimated mean body content of selenium is 7 mg. The contribution to the body burden from inhalation intake is much less significant. The exposure evaluation is performed for total selenium in the environment and in man. The parameters may be adjusted for specific selenium compounds, if data are available, and for more particular environmental and exposure conditions as required.