Retention of methyl mercury and inorganic mercury in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (W): effect of dietary selenium

The effects of dietary selenium on the retention of intraperitoneally injec ted organic and inorganic mercury in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss were investigated in the laboratory. Trout fed a selenite-supplemented (approxi mately 10 mu g Se g(-1)) diet augmented the elimination of organic mercury from muscles, liver, kidney, bile and erythrocytes, bur not from blood plas ma, compared with trout fed a non-supplemented diet (approximately 1.5 mu g Se g(-1)). Dietary selenium augmented the elimination of inorganic mercury in muscles and kidney, whereas liver, erythrocytes, blood plasma and bile were not affected. A total of 8 weeks exposure to food containing 10 mu g S e g(-1) increased the selenium concentration in the liver from 1 to 26 mu g Se g(-1). The selenium concentration in muscle was not affected by this ex posure. Growth rate of the trout was not affected by the selenium exposure. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.