Application of Three Spectrometric Methods to Total Selenium Determination in Postmortem Material in a Case of Acute Selenium Compound Poisoning

Abstract

Three spectrometric methods, that is, spectrofluorimetry (SF), atomic absorption spectrometry with electrothermal atomization (ET-AAS), and atomic fluorescence spectrometry with hydride generation (HG-AFS) were used for the determination of total selenium in biological samples taken from postmortem material in a case of acute selenium compound poisoning. The precision of the SF, ET-AAS, and HG-AFS methods (RSD, n=10) was found to be in the ranges of 10.0-15.0, 3.0-6.0 and 1.0-1.5%, respectively, and the detection limit was 10.0, 4.0, and 0.1 μg/L of Se, respectively. In the case of HG-AFS, the analytical procedure takes less time and is less laborious than the other methods considered. The obtained results show the usefulness of the HG-AFS method as a supplementary analytical tool to the SF and ET-AAS methods with respect to the determination of selenium as well as the possibility of using this method as a primary one in forensic toxicology practice.

Selenium Status and Its Antioxidant Role in Metabolic Diseases

“…One hour after the suspected ingestion, his serum Se levels reached up to 30,000 μg/L [68]. Moreover, deaths from different types of Se poisoning, such as Se dioxide, selenic acid, and sodium tetraoxoselenate poisoning, are not uncommon [69][70][71]. In addition, a 51-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman experimented with the daily ingestion of supplement containing Se powder, magnesium powder, zinc drops, and a teaspoon of laxative salts.…”

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“…Conversely, acute selenium toxicity has been observed in experimental animals [37], and several reports of acute selenium poisoning in humans have also been described [31,[38][39][40][41][42][43].…”