Acute, Accumulative and Sub-acute Toxicity of Sodium Selenite

Objective: To explore the toxicity of sodium selenite.Methods: Wistar rats were used to explore acute toxicity and accumulative toxicity of sodium selenite by the modified Karber method and the dose-increasing method,respectively.In addition,rats administered with sodium selenite at doses of 1/20 LD50,1/10 LD50 and 1/5 LD50 for 30 consecutive days were used to explore its sub-acute toxicity.The growth status,histopathological change and blood biochemical indices of rats were determined.Results: The LD50 of sodium selenite was 11.75 mg/kg and the accumulative coefficient was 3.3,which revealed a moderate capacity of accumulative toxicity for rats.However,the growth of rats was inhibited when the concentration of sodium selenite was up to 0.588 mg/kg.The major organs including heart,liver,spleen,lung and kidney were damaged to different extents and blood biochemical indices were affected by sodium selenite at high concentrations.Conclusion: Sodium selenite is a material with high toxicity,which can cause acute,accumulative and sub-acute toxicity to rats.