Abstract
It is suggested that the daily intake of selenium may be roughly assessed as twice the daily excretion in the urine. The author's results support this conclusion provided that urine collections are made on days when no foods with a very high selenium content are included in the diet.
The close correlation between daily urinary excretions and blood levels suggests the usefulness of either as a method for estimating selenium intake. It remains to be established whether this conclusion can be extended to subjects other than those who have been living in the same area for a year or more, and whose body stores are not being affected by a change in dietary intake of this trace element.