URINARY SELENIUM EXCRETION IN WORKERS WITH LOW EXPOSURE TO MERCURY-VAPOR

Urinary selenium excretion was studied in 21 mercury vapour (Hg degrees) exposed workers involved in the demolition of a chloralkali plant, The subjects had no known previous occupational exposure to mercury, Their mean pre-exposure urinary mercury concentration, determined on average 1.2 days prior to the exposure, was 0.8 nmol mmol(-1) creatinine (range 0.3-1.9), Their last mean urinary mercury concentration, determined on average after 51.4 days (range 19-103) of exposure, was 4.8 nmol mmol(-1) creatinine (range 1.2-10.0), The exposure ceased on average 4.1 days after the last determined urinary mercury concentration, The corresponding concentrations of urinary selenium decreased from an average of 39.1 nmol mmol-l creatinine (range 13.9-89.5) to 29.0 nmol mmol(-1) creatinine (range 10.1-52.9) (P = 0.002), This finding may indicate that even a low to moderate work-related exposure to Hg degrees may reduce the urinary selenium concentration in humans in a manner that is not yet fully known,