Arsenic-selenium and mercury-selenium bonds in biology

When rabbits are simultaneous injected with arsenite and selenite or mercuric chloride and selenite, compounds with As-Se and Hg-Se bonds are formed in the bloodstream. The combined application of liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) has revealed the molecular structure of these toxicologically important compounds and provided insight into their mechanism of formation. The glutathione-driven formation of these compounds in the bloodstream fundamentally links the metabolism of the environmental pollutants mercuric mercury and arsenite with that of the essential ultratrace element selenium, which establishes a feasible mechanism by which the chronic low-level exposure of various human populations to these toxic metals and metalloid compounds is linked to human diseases, including cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.