Evaluation of selenium in dietary supplements using elemental speciation

Selenium-enriched dietary supplements containing various selenium compounds are readily available to consumers. To ensure proper selenium intake and consumer confidence, these dietary supplements must be safe and have accurate label claims. Varying properties among selenium species requires information beyond total selenium concentration to fully evaluate health risk/benefits A LC-ICP-MS method was developed and multiple extraction methods were implemented for targeted analysis of common "seleno-amino acids" and related oxidation products, selenate, selenite, and other species relatable to the quality and/or accuracy of the labeled selenium ingredients. Ultimately, a heated water extraction was applied to recover selenium species from non-selenized yeast supplements in capsule, tablet, and liquid forms. For selenized yeast supplements, inorganic selenium was monitored as a means of assessing selenium yeast quality. A variety of commercially available selenium supplements were evaluated and discrepancies between labeled ingredients and detected species were noted.