High levels of selenium in blood may have caused extreme hair loss in Buldhana, claims doctor

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A few weeks after the residents of nearly 15 villages in Maharashtra’s Buldhana district experienced sudden and inexplicable hair loss, Jalna-based physician Himmatrao Bawaskar says that he foundthe affected village residents had excessively high levels of selenium in their bodies, while their blood samples showed alarmingly low levels of zinc. This imbalance is likely the cause of the hair loss, he claimed.

The government is investigating the source of the selenium.

Dr. Bawaskar, who is known for his research into treatments for scorpion bites, visited the affected areas with his team and conducted tests on water, grain, and soil samples, at his own expense. His team also took blood and urine samples of the patients suffering from hair loss and concluded that the selenium levels in their bodies were 10 times higher than normal, while the zinc content was below 70 micrograms.

“We also took samples of soil, ash, coal, water, and food grains. The results show that border-level selenium and phosphorus content is high in the soil. The land is alkaline, and Diammonium phosphate (DAP) is extensively used [as a fertiliser], resulting in the piling up of phosphate. Zinc in the grain does not increase, it dissolves in water and rots in the soil. The Ph levels are high in the soil,” Dr. Bawaskar told The Hindu. 

In the first week of January, multiple cases of hair loss emerged in the villages of Shegaon Taluka in Maharashtra’s Budhana district. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) termed the condition anagen effluvium. The ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai, and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, both collected samples, but their reports are still pending. 

The ICMR brought attention to the fact that selenium levels have increased, even in the wheat found in ration shops, thought the question of where it grew is yet to be resolved. Dr. Bawaskar and his team say they are still figuring out how selenium entered the wheat.

Could the fertiliser be to blame?

To prevent such problems, Dr. Bawaskar has suggested reducing the use of DAP fertilizer and increasing the gypsum content, which is low in the soil. The use of groundwater or bore water should be stopped, he insisted. “People are buying water for drinking purposes, paying ₹70 per tanker. They should be provided with good drinking water,” he added. He also suggested that the use of coal energy in the nearby thermal plant should be reduced, as fly ash now sits on the farmland.