Source Naturals brand selenium dietary supplement - $5.28 per 100 tablets
Posted on 08/31/2004 4:58:06 PM PDT by farmfriend
Battle over toxic metal
EPA appears set to relax standards for selenium, which led to deformities in waterfowl in 1980s.
By Stuart Leavenworth -- Bee Staff Writer - (Published August 31, 2004)
Over the objections of several federal scientists, the Bush administration is preparing to relax national standards for selenium - a toxic metal that caused mass deformities of water fowl in California's Central Valley during the 1980s.
The revised U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards are outlined in an EPA draft notice obtained by The Bee.
Critics say the proposed standards are based on a study that even its author says was interpreted improperly. The standards follow years of lobbying by power companies, Valley farming interests and mining officials, all of whom say the current federal standards are overly restrictive.
EPA officials declined to comment on the dispute Monday, saying they haven't made a final decision on the rule. "The notice you have is a draft. Until it is signed, it is not final," said Cathy Milbourne, an EPA spokeswoman in Washington, D.C.
Scientists in other federal agencies, however, say it has been clear for weeks the EPA plans to adopt a selenium standard favored by industry and opposed by government biologists. The rule-making process has been controversial since 2002, when the EPA hired a contractor with long-standing ties to some industries seeking relief.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
"Federal Scientists???"
In my less than responsible youth I worked with organoselenium compounds (do they stink!!!) for 3 years. I probably absorbed more than was necessary, but still am alive, have my skin and nails, and even some of my hair still on me. So as a professional chemist I am inclined to think that selenium is not THAT bad and might even be good for you in small amounts.
BTTT!!!!!!!
K. Barry Sharpless, inventor of the asymmetrical allylic epoxidation reaction, gave a fascinating talk, "chemist's phobias reveal fertile research areas." The point was that things chemists didn't want to deal with equated to unexplored areas: fluorine, selenium and tellurium, perchlorates, peroxides, ... his own invention requires t-butyl hydroperoxide.
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