Ecological Risk Guidelines for Selenium

Table 1. Recommended Ecological Risk Guidelines Based Upon Selenium Residues.

Matrix	Units	No Effect	Level of Concern	Toxicity Threshold
Fish (whole body)	mg/kg (dry weight)	< 4	4-12	> 12
Vegetation (as diet)	mg/kg (dry weight)	< 2	3-7	> 7
Animal food chain (invertebrates)	mg/kg (dry weight)	< 3	3-7	> 7
Sediment	mg/kg (dry weight)	< 2	2-4	> 4
Water (total recoverable Se)	痢/L	< 2	2-5	> 5
Avian Egg (pop. hatchability)	mg/kg (dry weight)	< 3	3-8	> 8

Notes

These guidelines are intended to be population based. Thus, trends in means over time should be evaluated.

A tiered approach is suggested with water being the least meaningful measure and whole body fish being the most meaningful in assessment of ecological risk in a flowing system.

The toxic effect is reproductive impairment in fish and birds.

The whole body (WB) fish guideline is for warm water fish.

The animal food chain guideline refers to hazards to birds. If food chain residues exceed 6 mg/kg then avian eggs should be monitored.

Vegetation as diet is based on poultry literature.