ABSTRACT
Selenium (Se) is an essential dietary element for humans and animals. Insufficient or excessive Se intakes can cause health issues, with Se deficiency being a more widespread problem globally and affecting an estimated 0.5 – 1 billion people (Fairweather-Tait et al. 2011). The amount of Se in food crops depends on the amount of bioavailable Se in the soil where the food is grown. The concentrations of Se in soils depends not only on the local bedrock concentration, but also on inputs from the atmosphere. Atmospheric deposition of Se is an important source of Se in soils, especially through wet deposition. Several studies have linked precipitation levels with soil Se concentrations in field studies (e.g. Låg & Steinnes 1978, Blazina et al. 2014). It is therefore important to understand how Se is transported in the atmosphere and, ultimately, where it is removed back to the Earth surface.
