Effect of Dietary Selenium and Mercury and 203Hg Metabolism in Chicks

ABSTRACT Two levels of selenium (0 or 10 p.p.m.) as NajSeO, and two levels of mercury (100 or 200 p.p.m.) as HgCl2 were added alone or in combination to a commercial diet and fed to day-old White Leghorn male chicks. The chicks were orally dosed with ^'Hg after seven days of feeding the diets and counted in a whole body counter at 0, 4, 8, 12, 24, 36 and 60 hours after dosing. Ninety-six hours after dosing the liver, kidneys, lungs, breast muscle and tibia were removed and tissue M3Hg determined. Feeding the diets containing selenium and/or mercury for 10 days had no effect on growth, feed conversion or mortality. Dietary selenium (10 p.p.m.) did not influence ^'Hg whole body retention but mercury increased the loss. The combinations of dietary mercury and selenium increased the rate of 203Hg loss for the first 12 hours after dosing. The kidney and liver had the highest amounts of M3Hg 96 hours after dosing