ICMR interim report links high levels of selenium in wheat to hair loss

Intake of extreme selenium leads to a situation known as selenosis, which is characterised by sudden hair loss
| Photo Credit: CDC

Three Zika virus circumstances in Gujarat detected between November 2016 and February 2017 have been saved underneath wraps until WHO introduced the outbreak on May 26, 2017; the Health Ministry had knowledgeable WHO in regards to the three circumstances on May 15, 2017. The case of high levels of selenium in wheat distributed by Public Distribution System (PDS) retailers inflicting elevated selenium levels and sudden hair loss in over 300 individuals in Shegaon taluka in Buldhana district, Maharashtra, appears to be following the identical sample — reluctance of the Health Ministry to maintain all of the stakeholders knowledgeable and make the findings public, after which declare there isn’t a conclusive proof to hyperlink high selenium levels in wheat with sudden hair loss.

Between end-December 2024 and January this 12 months, over 300 circumstances of sudden hair loss have been reported in individuals dwelling in 18 villages in Shegaon taluka. From January 14-17, a workforce of scientists from ICMR institutes and AIIMS Delhi visited three villages and picked up samples from individuals affected and unaffected (management) by sudden hair loss. Samples of wheat and rice from affected and unaffected households and from ration retailers have been collected, in addition to water and soil samples. Contrary to claims made by authorities sources, no different samples of meals objects have been collected for testing by the ICMR-AIIMS workforce. The samples have been despatched for testing to ICMR-National Institute for Research in Environmental Health (NIREH) in Bhopal and AIIMS Delhi.

A PTI report revealed on February 25 stated that very high levels of selenium discovered in wheat was the explanation for the sudden hair loss, based mostly on an impartial investigation by Dr. Himmatrao Bawaskar of Bawaskar Hospital and Research Centre in Raigad. The ICMR-AIIMS workforce discovered high selenium in blood and hair samples of affected individuals, and the hyperlink between high selenium levels in wheat and hair loss almost a month earlier than Dr. Bawaskar’s investigation revealed them. But the findings of the ICMR-AIIMS workforce haven’t been made public until date.

In an interim report submitted to the Health Ministry on January 28, ICMR clearly stated that the quantity of selenium detected in the blood of affected people was about 31 occasions greater than controls. The selenium content material was additionally high in wheat samples collected from two ration retailers and some households of affected individuals. Water samples have been examined for almost two-dozen heavy metals, and all have been inside permissible limits. Based on these findings, the interim report says that high selenium levels in wheat may have triggered sudden hair loss. Intake of extreme selenium via meals and/or water leads to a situation known as selenosis, which is characterised by hair loss, which is what was seen in individuals in Shegaon taluka.

Blood samples examined by ICMR-NIREH discovered that folks with sudden hair loss had selenium levels almost 31 occasions greater than people with out hair loss from households with no circumstances of hair loss in the household. Selenium levels in the affected individuals have been 3 times greater than the unaffected people from the identical households because the affected individuals. Blood samples examined by AIIMS Delhi discovered that the selenium levels have been about 25 occasions greater than the controls, and the selenium levels in hair samples from individuals with sudden hair loss have been additionally high in contrast with the management group.

Testing by ICMR-NIREH of wheat samples equipped by two ration retailers to the affected individuals dwelling in two villages had selenium two-eight occasions greater than regular values. The selenium stage in the wheat pattern collected from a family the place an affected individual was dwelling was high and comparable to the selenium levels in wheat obtainable on the ration store. Compared with households of unaffected people, individuals from affected households consumed wheat and rice equipped by PDS retailers. The presence of wheat with high levels of selenium each in the ration retailers and in the affected households clearly establishes that wheat distributed by the PDS retailers because the supply of selenium for the affected individuals.

As per a Letter revealed in 2016 in the Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology, and Leprology, a examine by the SMS Medical College and Hospital in Jaipur discovered 15 people from two households with high to excessive selenium toxicity. Selenium in wheat samples was 250 occasions greater. As per a 2004 report in Down to Earth, giant tracts of agriculture lands in Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahar districts in Punjab are impacted and other people in many villages in these districts are affected by selenium toxicity.

It should be famous that whereas each household receives PDS wheat, not everybody eats this wheat. Many households have wheat grown in their very own area. As a outcome, the wheat samples collected from homes weren’t essentially acquired from PDS retailers. Curiously, individuals who had sudden hair loss in end-December 2024 had good hair regrowth regardless that they continued to eat wheat equipped by PDS retailers. This means that the publicity to high selenium was just for a short while most likely as a result of only some sacks of wheat had high selenium levels. That circumstances have been reported solely from 12-15 villages once more help the speculation that only some sacks would have had high selenium. It is due to this fact mandatory to perform additional investigations by testing further wheat samples from the complete provide chain of PDS to be sure that high selenium wheat shouldn’t be current in the provision chain.