WSPC00560

• File Number: 8270.200
• Description: Colorado River - Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program - CRBSCP
• State: CO
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 10/1/1989
• Title: Selenium Contamination from Irrigation Drainage in the Western United States with Emphasis on Utah
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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biologic.l .aaple. collected in Aabley
Cr..k h.v. not b..n c.c.iv.d, Good
correl.tions v.c. found .mong concen-
tration. of ..l.niua in vat.c, ..di-
..nt, and vildlife .t tbe contaain.ted
.ite. (St.pben. and other., 1988).

SELENIUM IN HUMANS

.

Selenium i. n.c....ry for human
nutrition in quantiti.. ranging from
50 to 200 ug/day (Rational Acade.y of
Sci.nce., 1983). If tbe diet doe. not
.upply .uffici.nt .elenium, .uch
dise.se. as K..han (juvenile eacdiomy-
opathy) and Ka.ehin-Beck (chondrodys-
tropby in children) may occur. If the
diet, or more eommonly industrial
exposure by inhalation of airborne
selenium in copper smelters and sele-
nium rectifier plants, provides too
much selenium, acute seleno.is re-
sults. This illness i. charaeterized
by dizziness, nau.ea, and fatique, but
rarely deatb. Chronic selenOsis
results from longer-term exposure to
smaller concentrations and is charac-
terized by skin lesions, hair loss,
depression, and fatique. Typieally,
cbronic exposure produces concentra-
tions of selenium in urine ranging
from 200 to 2,000 parts per billion
(Comb. and Comb., 1986, p. 493). NOn-
industrial expo.ure typically produces
a cbronic condition, the mo.t notable
example b..mv-a:-fmIlily -near -Durall9o,
Colo~~-loceted-Z25 miles soutbeast
of.....tJl.:.-.-Ulnta -Basin.,- in vbich. ell
members .includmg-adog,.silffilred- soile.
hair .losai-naus..-,--aiid fit'ique.'.'1'he
cau..-vas-traeed--t.o-wace-r from a
.dome.tie well t~at .cootaiDed a .eleni-
... concentration of 9,000 ug/L and vas
located .in .bel. and silt.tone depos-
its of tbe San Jose Pormation (Beath,
1962) .
Virtually all hou.eholds in
area. of the Uinta Basin where seleni-
ga contamination "as doeumented
(Stephens and others, 1988) reeeive
culinary vater from public water
.uppli.. tbat .r. not contaalnated
vitb ..l.nium. S.v.ral privata v.ll.

.

1n

which .r. u..d for eulinary .ource.
bav. b..n .xaain.d, and th.y do not
contain ..l.niu. eonc.ntr.tion. in
.xce.. of ...--atat. drinklD9 vat.r
.t.ft~.r4 of .1O.U4/L.
S.l.niu. ean b. bioaccuaulated
througb tbe fOOd ebain, re.ulting in
coneentrations in food. whieb, wben
eaten, exce.d tbe "safe and adequate"
upper limit of 200 'ug/day reco...nded
by tbe Rational Aeade.y of Scienees
(1980), althougb daily intake of as
euch .. 750 ug/day is regarded a. safe
by some experts (Comb. and Combs,
1986, p. 511). Concentration. of
selenium in s.veral samples of fish
and gaae tissues and veg.tabl.s from
the Uinta Basin are shown in t.ble 1.
Coneentrations are given as r.v, vet
weigbt because that is the form most
likely eneountered by consumers. Very
little loss of selenium oecurs when
foods are cooked (Higgs and otbers,
1972). The cabbage and radish.s were
collected from a bous.bold g.rden
irrigated with vater eontaining less
than 1 ug/L of selenium in an uncon-
taminated area at Ouray RWR. The
largest concentrations of selenium are
in fillets of eatfish and carp taken
from Stewart Lake. A 10-ounee serving
of tbe.e fish would prOVide 325 to 750
percent of tbe recommend.d maximum
daily intake of 200 ug of selenium
regarded a. .af. for an adult male.
In recognition of tbe potential for
buman bealtb risks, tbe Utab Depart-
ment of Health issued an advisory
September 26, 1988, for fisb and fovl
from Stewart Lake, recommending con-
SUllption of no IlOre than 10 ounces per
week for adult males.

POSSIBLE OUTCOME
OF RESEARCH ON
SELENIUM AND IRRIGATION

Veterinary seientists are re-
examining historical data where sele-
nium bas been identified as a eausa-
tive agent for some dis.a....of live-
.tock. Tbe relationsbip of ..l.nium
to blind .tagg.r. a. r.port.d by