A study led by Fernando Barbosa Júnior of the University of São Paulo’s Ribeirão Preto pharmaceutical sciences faculty suggests selenium changes the path of mercury in the body and softens its toxic effects. The work, published in Environment & Health, looked at 13 communities in the Tapajós and Amazon basins in Pará.
Blood and urine samples were collected from 1,089 adult volunteers and detailed analysis covered 56. Higher selenium levels were linked to less methylmercury moving from blood cells into plasma and to more inorganic mercury excreted in urine.
In these populations blood mercury can reach 12 times WHO limits, yet toxic effects are smaller than predicted. The mechanism is not yet confirmed.
