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Selenium Research Paper

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Selenium(Se) is a toxic heavy metal ion of environmental significance that is 78.96 g.mol -1 in atomic weight.

According to National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)[1] , recommended exposure limit (REL) for selenium is 0.2 mg/m3.Compared to acetone, selenium is more toxic because RELs of selenium is lower than that of acetone which is 2.38 mg/m3.However,as a heavy metal, selenium is less toxic than its similar which is lead. RELs of lead is 0.050 mg/m3 which means humans are able to be exposed to the environment with selenium with higher concentration. Lead is more toxic than selenium based on RELs.

The 1963 WHO International Standards for Drinking-water recommended a maximum allowable concentration of 0.01 mg/L for selenium which was retained in the 1971 International Standards as a upper concentration limit, while recognizing that selenium is an essential trace element for some species. In the first edition of the …show more content…

A federal law called the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA) requires facilities in certain industries, which manufacture, process, or use significant amounts of toxic chemicals, to report annually on their releases of these …show more content…

However the consumption of high levels of selenium in the diet by pigs, sheep, and cattle has been shown to interfere with normal fetal development and to produce fetal malformations. Sodium selenate, administered in the drinking water to mice, did not result in birth defects, but did result in an increased incidence of fetal deaths and a high proportion of runts, while chronic exposure of mice to selenium in the diet has been shown to affect their fertility and to reduce the viability of the offspring of pairs that are able to

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