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General
- Selenium is an
essential trace mineral for the human body, primarily because it
acts as an effective antioxidant preventing harmful cell damage.
- Selenium is a
trace mineral that is essential to good health but required only in
small amounts . Selenium is incorporated into proteins to make
selenoproteins, which are important antioxidant enzymes.
Source and Technology
- Plant foods
are the major dietary sources of selenium in most countries
throughout the world. The content of selenium in food depends on the
selenium content of the soil where plants are grown or animals are
raised .
- Selenium
compounds may be used as an arming agent for antibodies, peptides,
small molecules, and nucleotides (e.g. aptamers). The selenium
technology attached to a targeting agent delivers a lethal payload
to tumor cells, pathogenic microbes, or other specific cells.
Because of selenium’s unique mode of action, selenium-armed agents
have been shown to kill bacteria at 4o C, indicating that there need
not be metabolic activity for selenium to be effective.
Applications
- Growing
uses of selenium include: Selenium enriched fertilizers are now
being used in Finland, New Zealand, China and United States to
get selenium into the
food chain and as an alternative to selenium addition directly
to animal feed. , Selenium additives to vitamin
supplements, Selenium treatments are being developed for a
number of ailments including dermatology, tendonitis,
periodontal disease,
rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, macular degeneration and
cataracts, herpes and lupus inflammation to name a few.,
Selenium is also being used in new thin-screen technology in
copper-indium-selenium solar cells
Market
- The rapid
increase in selenium
price is the result of large
purchases of selenium by China in second half 2003, depleting
refinery inventories. This high demand continues and as spot
supply dries up, purchasers are now reportedly trying to locate
supply under long term contracts with refiners.
-
Consumption is estimated at 2,650 tonnes in 2003 and has been
increasing at 1.6% per annum over the period 1990 to 2000.
Historically, the growth appears steady; however, the recent
market activity of China purchasing all available selenium
inventories suggests much larger growth rates in China as its
economy expands
at a very rapid rate .
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Technology, Products,
Market, Isolation Process, Projects, Suppliers, Company Profiles,
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