Speciation of Organic and Inorganic Selenium in Selenium-enriched Eggs by Hydride Generation Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry

A new method was established for the speciation of Se by hydride generation-atomic fluorescence spectrometry. Effective separation of organic and inorganic Se in Se-enriched eggs was achieved by precipitating albumen with trichloroacetic acid. The detection limit for Se was 0.07 mu g L-1. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of organic and inorganic Se as well as total Se in Se-enriched eggs with the recovery of 90.1-112% and the relative standard deviation (n = 5) of 0.6-3.4%. Se in Se-enriched eggs presents mainly in organic forms, the content of which was three to seven times that of inorganic Se.