Selenium in the environment

Chapter 1 is intended to provide the essential background information to assist operators and researchers who use technologies for the treatment of selenium (Se) in environmental (soils, waters, sediments, air) and biological (foods) samples in addition to analysis of Se-molecular speciation in living organisms (plants, microorganisms, animals and humans). In this regard, it is important to underline that numerous reviews and reports have been published in the last decade on this and related topics (Hosnedlova et al., 2018; Khurana et al., 2019; Nancharaiah & Lens, 2015a, b; Preda et al., 2015; Tan et al., 2016; Winkel et al., 2012). Therefore, all readers are kindly invited to refer to the recent literature on the subject – in addition to chapters 2 to 12 of this volume – for complete information on the role and importance of selenium in nature.