Did You Know That Selenium Deficiency Is A Thing? 

Did you know that selenium deficiency is a thing? 

Up to a billion people around the globe are deficient, not getting enough of this trace element from their diet. This is why we are interested in understanding what controls selenium levels in soils. The atmosphere supplies Se to the soil environment - but where does this initially come from? I loved illustrating this study by Süss et al., (2019), investigating trace element sources using rainwater analyses. The data show that the terrestrial biosphere apparently has much more of an impact than we traditionally thought - at least during the summer. 

source: Elke Suess, Franziska Aemisegger, Jeroen E. Sonke, Michael Sprenger, Heini Wernli and Lenny H. E. Winkel (2019): Marine versus continental sources of iodine and selenium in rainfall at two European high-altitude locations. Environmental Science & Technology. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b05533