Renal changes in selenium-exposed fish.

A group of green sunfish was collected from a selenium-rich lake and compared with a similar group collected from a control lake upstream in the same drainage system in east Texas. Since the level of selenium in kidneys of these fish was relatively high (averaging 11 ppm on a fresh weight basis), histopathological and ultrastructural data were collected. Kidneys from fish from the selenium-rich lake showed proliferative glomerulonephritis and hematuria as well as vacuolation and necrosis of cells of the convoluted tubules.