Biomarkers · Electrolytes & Minerals

Serum Selenium

Higher values go with lower risk of death. Not measured in our NHANES panel. The curve is drawn from the published study (source below).

Serum Selenium and risk of death

Published curve higher than the NHANES fitNHANES fit higher

Risk of death relative to the curve's reference value, drawn from the published study (source below).

Published risk of death0.87×per 1 SD increase in selenium biomarker concentration (95% CI 0.83–0.90) · Meta-analysis of 20 population-based cohort studies (17 on all-cause mortality)

Serum Selenium by age and sex

Each bar runs from the 5th to the 95th percentile, the darker part from the 25th to the 75th, and the tick is the median. Not a reference range or a target.

The percentiles as a table

Each row is one sex and age band: the values below which 5%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 95% of people fall (ug/L), from the survey named in the row. Not a reference range or a target.
Sex	Age	5th	25th	Median	75th	95th	n	Cycle / source
All	20-39	103	119	127	137	155	578	NHANES 2015-2016
All	40-59	105	119	128	138	154	567	NHANES 2015-2016
All	60+	106	121	131	142	162	579	NHANES 2015-2016
All	all	104	119	128	138	156	1,724	NHANES 2015-2016
Men	20-39	108	123	130	139	162	291	NHANES 2015-2016
Men	40-59	110	123	131	143	156	273	NHANES 2015-2016
Men	60+	108	120	131	140	164	300	NHANES 2015-2016
Men	all	108	122	131	141	160	864	NHANES 2015-2016
Women	20-39	98.5	116	122	133	148	287	NHANES 2015-2016
Women	40-59	102	116	124	134	151	294	NHANES 2015-2016
Women	60+	102	121	132	143	156	279	NHANES 2015-2016
Women	all	102	117	126	136	153	860	NHANES 2015-2016

What else moves this marker

They describe those study groups, not an individual, and an association is not a cause.

Diseases and conditions

Each row is one study: what it compared and the change it reported in this marker.
What	Effect on the marker	Comparison · population	Source
↓ SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) · patients with active SARS-CoV-2 infection vs healthy subjects	-28.36 ug/L (95% CI -45.31 to -11.41)	patients with COVID-19 vs healthy subjects · Patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and healthy comparison subjects (6 of 38 reviewed studies pooled)	meta analysis · PMID 37528833

Sources

Risk curve: Cui Z 2025 (PMID 40690813): all-cause RR 0.87 (0.83-0.9) per 1 SD increase in selenium biomarker concentration. Scaled to US values (NHANES).
Cui Z, Xie R, Lu X, Schomburg L, Brenner H, Schottker B. Associations of selenium status with all-cause and cause-specific mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. Redox Biology. 2025;85:103755.

Map Serum Selenium against another biomarker.

Map Serum Selenium against another marker