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Reversal of Selenium Toxicity in Chicks by Mercury, Copper, and Cadmium^1,2,

Dearstyne Avian Health Center, Department of Poultry Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27607

The toxic effects of selenium, fed as selenium dioxide, to chicks as measured by growth retardation and mortality could be partially alleviated by the inclusion of mercuric chloride, cupric sulfate, or cadmium sulfate in the diet. The reaction products formed between selenium and the other inorganic compounds were synthesized and fed to chicks and found to be less toxic than an equivalent amount of selenium fed as selenium dioxide. Selenium toxicity was also counteracted by the inclusion of phenylmercuriacetate in the diet. Phenylmercuriacetate fed at a level to supply 50 ppm mercury was itself toxic as indicated by reduction in growth and the toxicity could be partially alleviated by the inclusion of diphenylselenium in the diet. The molar ratio of mercury to selenium for the most effective counteraction of selenium toxicity when the two elements were fed in the inorganic form was 1:1. On the other hand the most effective ratio for counteracting the toxicity of phenylmercuriacetate by diphenylselenium was 4:1 indicating that the mechanisms on which the interactions are based are different in the two instances.

KEY WORDS: • selenium • mercury • copper • cadmium • interaction

¹ Paper no. 4152 of the Journal Series of the North Carolina State University Agricultural Experiment Station, Raleigh, N. C.

² These studies were supported in part by grant no. 9 ROI HE 14719-10 NTN from the National Science Foundation and by grant no. HEW S ROI HL 14719-11 NTN from the National Institutes of Health.

Manuscript received 16 October 1973.