Dietary selenium reduces retention of methyl mercury in freshwater fish

Adverse effects from organic mercury transported along aquatic food chains are health issues in humans and other top predators. Methyl mercury in organisms at the lower food chain levels is eliminated slowly, and laboratory studies have not clarified the role of selenium in the retention of methyl mercury in fish. Here, we investigated the effects of dietary selenium on the retention of organic and inorganic mercury in freshwater fish. Addition of selenite to the food augmented elimination of methyl mercury (but not inorganic mercury) from goldfish Carassius auratus in a dose dependent manner; selenite caused methyl mercury to be lost from the general body rather than from any specific organ. Seleno-cystine and seleno-methionine (but not selenate) likewise promoted elimination of methyl mercury from goldfish. The threshold for the augmenting effect of selenite on the elimination of methyl mercury in the zebra fish Danio rerio was 0.95 μg Se g(-1) food; higher concentrations reduced retention of methyl mercury in a dose dependent manner. Selenium concentrations in the food approaching natural background levels increase the elimination of methyl mercury from fish. Thus, selenium levels in a given aquatic food chain may affect mercury contamination along the food chain.