Fatal acute selenium toxicity

P. Pentel, D. Fletcher, J. Jentzen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

28 Scopus citations

Abstract

Selenium is used widely in industry and as a dietary supplement. Reports of acute selenium toxicity are infrequent, however, and the relationship of toxicity to selenium concentrations in blood and tissues has not been established. We describe a patient who died eight days after ingesting selenious acid in the form of gun blueing. The patient's clinical course demonstrated many of the features of inorganic selenium toxicity described in animals; hypotension as a result of both vasodilation and decreased cardiac output, adult respiratory distress syndrome, severe myopathy which contributed to respiratory failure, and a garlicky odor to the breath. Four days after ingestion the serum selenium concentration was twenty times normal and urinary excretion seventy times normal. Postmortem tissue selenium concentrations were up to 40 times normal.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)556-562
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Forensic Sciences
Volume30
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1985

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Fatal acute selenium toxicity'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this