This metabolic balance study measured intake and urinary and fecal output of six trace elements, including selenium, in four young women eating a constant diet of ordinary New Zealand foods. Selenium intakes were low compared with reports from the USA and UK, and about half of the selenium eaten appeared in urine. Selenium balance appeared to be close to equilibrium.
Key numbers
- Daily dietary selenium intake: 26, 24, 18 and 19 µg/day for the four women (Table 2, p. 198).
- Urinary selenium: 7 to 16 µg/day, about half of intake (Discussion, p. 203).
- Urinary output as a fraction of intake: 0.43 to 0.60 (Results, p. 202).
Methods (brief)
Diet, urine and feces collected in 1966 and 1967 balance studies were analyzed later. Selenium was measured fluorimetrically with diaminonaphthalene; brilliant blue and chromic oxide were used as fecal markers. Selenium could not be measured in feces containing chromic oxide.
Evidence fitness
Supports historical evidence that New Zealand diets of the 1960s supplied low selenium and that urinary selenium tracks roughly half of intake. Four subjects cannot represent a population.
Limitations
Very small sample; stored samples; no selenium reference material results are reported; dermal and menstrual losses were not measured.
Related evidence
Update history
No substantive edit history is available in this build. The full commit record is available in git.