Scientific opinion on the tolerable upper intake level for selenium

Dominique Turck; Torsten Bohn; Jacqueline Castenmiller; Stefaan de Henauw; Karen-Ildico Hirsch-Ernst; Helle Katrine Knutsen; Alexandre Maciuk; Inge Mangelsdorf; Harry J McArdle; Carmen Peláez; Kristina Pentieva; Alfonso Siani; Frank Thies; Sophia Tsabouri; Marco Vinceti; Peter Aggett; Marta Crous Bou; Francesco Cubadda; Laura Ciccolallo; Agnès de Sesmaisons Lecarré; Lucia Fabiani; Ariane Titz; Androniki Naska; EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (NDA)

doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2023.7704

Scientific opinion on the tolerable upper intake level for selenium

Dominique Turck, Torsten Bohn, Jacqueline Castenmiller, Stefaan de Henauw, Karen-Ildico Hirsch-Ernst, Helle Katrine Knutsen, Alexandre Maciuk, Inge Mangelsdorf, Harry J McArdle, Carmen Peláez, Kristina Pentieva, Alfonso Siani, Frank Thies, Sophia Tsabouri, Marco Vinceti, Peter Aggett, Marta Crous Bou, Francesco Cubadda, Laura Ciccolallo, Agnès de Sesmaisons LecarréLucia Fabiani, Ariane Titz, Androniki Naska, EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (NDA)

The Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Following a request from the European Commission, the EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (NDA) was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the tolerable upper intake level (UL) for selenium. Systematic reviews of the literature were conducted to identify evidence regarding excess selenium intake and clinical effects and potential biomarkers of effect, risk of chronic diseases and impaired neuropsychological development in humans. Alopecia, as an early observable feature and a well-established adverse effect of excess selenium exposure, is selected as the critical endpoint on which to base a UL for selenium. A lowest-observed-adverse-effect-level (LOAEL) of 330 μg/day is identified from a large randomised controlled trial in humans (the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT)), to which an uncertainty factor of 1.3 is applied. A UL of 255 μg/day is established for adult men and women (including pregnant and lactating women). ULs for children are derived from the UL for adults using allometric scaling (body weight 0.75). Based on available intake data, adult consumers are unlikely to exceed the UL, except for regular users of food supplements containing high daily doses of selenium or regular consumers of Brazil nuts. No risk has been reported with the current levels of selenium intake in European countries from food (excluding food supplements) in toddlers and children, and selenium intake arising from the natural content of foods does not raise reasons for concern. Selenium-containing supplements in toddlers and children should be used with caution, based on individual needs.

Original language	English
Article number	e07704
Number of pages	194
Journal	EFSA Journal
Volume	21
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2023.7704
Publication status	Published - 20 Jan 2023

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements The Panel wishes to thank for their contribution to this output: the WG on Upper Levels: Peter Aggett, Marta Crous Bou, Francesco Cubadda, Harry J McArdle, Androniki Naska, and Marco Vinceti; and EFSA staff members: Ionut Craciun, Constanza de Matteu Monteiro, Rita Ferreira de Sousa, Zsuzsanna Horvath, Irene Muñoz Guajardo, and Angeliki Sofroniou. The Panel also wishes to acknowledge the contribution of Daniele Cappellani (University of Pisa, Italy), Roger Sunde (University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA) and Peter Willatts (University of Dundee, UK) as hearing experts, and all national institutions in European countries that provided consumption data for this scientific output and the authors of published papers on selenium who provided additional information upon request.
EFSA may include images or other content for which it does not hold copyright. In such cases, EFSA indicates the copyright holder and users should seek permission to reproduce the content from the original source.

Keywords

tolerable upper intake level
UL
selenium
dietary reference value

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Turck, D., Bohn, T., Castenmiller, J., de Henauw, S., Hirsch-Ernst, K.-I., Knutsen, H. K., Maciuk, A., Mangelsdorf, I., McArdle, H. J., Peláez, C., Pentieva, K., Siani, A., Thies, F., Tsabouri, S., Vinceti, M., Aggett, P., Crous Bou, M., Cubadda, F., Ciccolallo, L., ... EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (NDA) (2023). Scientific opinion on the tolerable upper intake level for selenium. EFSA Journal, 21(1), Article e07704. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2023.7704

Turck, D, Bohn, T, Castenmiller, J, de Henauw, S, Hirsch-Ernst, K-I, Knutsen, HK, Maciuk, A, Mangelsdorf, I, McArdle, HJ, Peláez, C, Pentieva, K, Siani, A, Thies, F, Tsabouri, S, Vinceti, M, Aggett, P, Crous Bou, M, Cubadda, F, Ciccolallo, L, de Sesmaisons Lecarré, A, Fabiani, L, Titz, A, Naska, A & EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (NDA) 2023, 'Scientific opinion on the tolerable upper intake level for selenium', EFSA Journal, vol. 21, no. 1, e07704. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2023.7704

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abstract = "Following a request from the European Commission, the EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (NDA) was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the tolerable upper intake level (UL) for selenium. Systematic reviews of the literature were conducted to identify evidence regarding excess selenium intake and clinical effects and potential biomarkers of effect, risk of chronic diseases and impaired neuropsychological development in humans. Alopecia, as an early observable feature and a well-established adverse effect of excess selenium exposure, is selected as the critical endpoint on which to base a UL for selenium. A lowest-observed-adverse-effect-level (LOAEL) of 330 μg/day is identified from a large randomised controlled trial in humans (the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT)), to which an uncertainty factor of 1.3 is applied. A UL of 255 μg/day is established for adult men and women (including pregnant and lactating women). ULs for children are derived from the UL for adults using allometric scaling (body weight 0.75). Based on available intake data, adult consumers are unlikely to exceed the UL, except for regular users of food supplements containing high daily doses of selenium or regular consumers of Brazil nuts. No risk has been reported with the current levels of selenium intake in European countries from food (excluding food supplements) in toddlers and children, and selenium intake arising from the natural content of foods does not raise reasons for concern. Selenium-containing supplements in toddlers and children should be used with caution, based on individual needs. ",

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author = "Dominique Turck and Torsten Bohn and Jacqueline Castenmiller and {de Henauw}, Stefaan and Karen-Ildico Hirsch-Ernst and Knutsen, {Helle Katrine} and Alexandre Maciuk and Inge Mangelsdorf and McArdle, {Harry J} and Carmen Pel{\'a}ez and Kristina Pentieva and Alfonso Siani and Frank Thies and Sophia Tsabouri and Marco Vinceti and Peter Aggett and {Crous Bou}, Marta and Francesco Cubadda and Laura Ciccolallo and {de Sesmaisons Lecarr{\'e}}, Agn{\`e}s and Lucia Fabiani and Ariane Titz and Androniki Naska and {EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (NDA)}",

note = "Acknowledgements The Panel wishes to thank for their contribution to this output: the WG on Upper Levels: Peter Aggett, Marta Crous Bou, Francesco Cubadda, Harry J McArdle, Androniki Naska, and Marco Vinceti; and EFSA staff members: Ionut Craciun, Constanza de Matteu Monteiro, Rita Ferreira de Sousa, Zsuzsanna Horvath, Irene Mu{\~n}oz Guajardo, and Angeliki Sofroniou. The Panel also wishes to acknowledge the contribution of Daniele Cappellani (University of Pisa, Italy), Roger Sunde (University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA) and Peter Willatts (University of Dundee, UK) as hearing experts, and all national institutions in European countries that provided consumption data for this scientific output and the authors of published papers on selenium who provided additional information upon request. EFSA may include images or other content for which it does not hold copyright. In such cases, EFSA indicates the copyright holder and users should seek permission to reproduce the content from the original source.",

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AU - Turck, Dominique

AU - Bohn, Torsten

AU - Castenmiller, Jacqueline

AU - de Henauw, Stefaan

AU - Hirsch-Ernst, Karen-Ildico

AU - Knutsen, Helle Katrine

AU - Maciuk, Alexandre

AU - Mangelsdorf, Inge

AU - McArdle, Harry J

AU - Peláez, Carmen

AU - Pentieva, Kristina

AU - Siani, Alfonso

AU - Thies, Frank

AU - Tsabouri, Sophia

AU - Vinceti, Marco

AU - Aggett, Peter

AU - Crous Bou, Marta

AU - Cubadda, Francesco

AU - Ciccolallo, Laura

AU - de Sesmaisons Lecarré, Agnès

AU - Fabiani, Lucia

AU - Titz, Ariane

AU - Naska, Androniki

AU - EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (NDA)

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PY - 2023/1/20

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Scientific opinion on the tolerable upper intake level for selenium

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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Cite this