Elemental contamination of Japanese women's hair from historical samples.
TL;DR: The contribution of exogenous contamination to hair levels was found to be very strong for Fe, Mn, Cu, Hg, and Pb, moderate for Na and Zn, and negligible for Ca, Mg, Sr, K, HG (organic mercury), and P.
About: This article is published in Science of The Total Environment.The article was published on 1984-10-01. It has received 16 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Mercury (element).
Citations
More filters
Journal Article•
TL;DR: Good laboratory practices will generate precise, accurate, and reliable results and the use of prescribed clinical quality control, including method validation, proficiency testing, split sampling, and good laboratory practices clearly demonstrates that measuring trace elements in hair can be analytically valid.
Abstract: Trace element analysis in biological samples has improved significantly over the last 40 years. Improvements in instrumentation such as inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry and microwave digestion have resulted in improved precision, accuracy, reliability, and detection limits. The analysis of human scalp hair has benefited significantly from these improvements. A recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association found significant inter-laboratory variation amongst several laboratories performing trace metal hair testing. It concluded that standardization was necessary to improve inter-laboratory comparability, and an accompanying commentary described the characteristics of a laboratory that should be used in performing hair analysis. The objective of this study is to demonstrate that good laboratory practices will generate precise, accurate, and reliable results. A method for establishing reference ranges and specific data on an analytical method will also be presented. The use of prescribed clinical quality control, including method validation, proficiency testing, split sampling, and good laboratory practices clearly demonstrates that measuring trace elements in hair can be analytically valid.
95 citations
TL;DR: Hair samples from three groups of occupationally exposed subjects were analyzed for their lead (Pb), manganese (Mn) and mercury (Hg) contents and metals in hair are suitable biological indicators for exposure and the distribution along the different segments of hair strands reflects the time history of exposure.
Abstract: Hair samples from three groups of occupationally exposed subjects were analyzed for their lead (Pb), manganese (Mn) and mercury (Hg) contents For lead (number of subjects, n=209), the hair Pb ranged from 093 to 3527 μg/g (geometric mean, GM=641) and blood Pb from 333 to 774 μg/l (GM=341); for manganese (n=38), the hair Mn ranged from 020 to 5297 μg/g (GM=266) and urine Mn ranged from 170 to 179 μg/l (GM=556); and for mercury (n=85), the hair Hg from 179 to 128 μg/g (GM=509) and the blood Hg from 063 to 573 μg/l (GM=109) The hair Pb was significantly (P 005) different from that of proximal end The GM levels for the distal end were 223 μg/g (95% CI 152–347) and 226 (95% CI 097–529); and those for the proximal end were 186 (95% CI 97–261) and 118 (95% CI 054–258) for Pb and Mn respectively However, linear regression analysis of hair metal levels in the proximal end with respect to those in the distal end after logarithmic transformation showed that hair Pb in the proximal end was related to hair Pb in the distal end with a slope of 095 (95% Cl 089–101) whereas hair Mn in the proximal end was related to that of the distal end with a slope of only 052 (95% CI 013–091), reflecting the relatively constant Pb exposure as compared to the dropping Mn exposure in recent years Metals in hair are suitable biological indicators for exposure and the distribution along the different segments of hair strands reflects the time history of exposure
91 citations
01 Jan 1988
TL;DR: Problems of analysis using hair and nails for representing the critical organ concentration and the knowledge of many toxic metals is still very limited.
Abstract: Hair and nails have obvious advantages as well as disadvantages as tissues for biological monitoring, which have been discussed repeatedly by many authors from different viewpoints such as environmental and occupational health, nutritional sciences and forensic medicine (Hambidge, 1982; Jenkins, 1979; Katz, 1979; Klevay, 1978; Laker, 1982; Maugh, 1978; Pankhurst and Pate, 1979; Rivlin, 1983; Schroeder and Nason, 1969; Toribara and Muhs, 1984). Problems of analysis using hair and nails will be reviewed in this chapter. However, it must be mentioned that the use of hair and nails has not been studied fully for correlation with environmental and occupational exposure and for representing the critical organ concentration. If we follow the critical organ concept, as accepted by the Subcommittee of Toxicology of Metals (Nordberg, 1976), it would be necessary to determine the concentration of specific metals in critical organs and to relate that concentration to the level in hair and nails. In this sense, our knowledge of many toxic metals is still very limited.
54 citations
TL;DR: The relationship between age, heavy metal levels, and a heavy-metal binding protein, metallothionein, in the liver and kidney of the harbor seal was studied, suggesting that the protein is responsible for the sequestration of these metals as already observed in terrestrial animals.
48 citations
01 Jan 1988
TL;DR: In this paper, the progress of morphological examination as the traditional approach in the context of forensic hair examination is discussed, and a new approach to forensic hair comparison is hair protein analysis.
Abstract: The ultimate purpose of forensic hair comparison is to state whether a crime scene hair is of victim origin or of suspect origin. Many hair investigators have seriously devoted themselves to establishing individualizing characteristics, mainly based on morphological examinations. However, there has been a general consensus that it will never be possible to identify a hair definitely to a particular person, even in the case of hair samples showing peculiar morphology. The enhancement of the identification probalitity has been a main interest of many hair investigators. In a current situation of forensic hair comparison the accumulation of all available information for characterizing a hair is most desirable. Morphological examination should always be considered as the first step of forensic hair comparison. Analytical examinations can now be expected to give useful information due to the rapid progress of analytical instruments. Thus, a combination of morphological and analytical data can lead to the enhancement of identification probability. With this in mind, the progress of morphological examination as the traditional approach in the context of forensic hair examination is discussed. Then, the elemental analysis in the investigation of hair is reviewed. A new approach to forensic hair comparison is hair protein analysis. The current situation is described together with instrumental chemical analyses of hair, and the effective application of these techniques to forensic hair comparison is demonstrated. Moreover, the analysis of hair root isozymes is reviewed.
34 citations
References
More filters
TL;DR: It was found that if 100 mg of tin(II) chloride alone were added instead of the tin( II) chloride-cadmium chloride reagent, only the release of inorganic mercury influenced the peak deflection of the potentiometer, thus permitting the selective determination of in organic mercury in the presence of methylmercury.
Abstract: A simple method for the determination of total mercury in biological samples contaminated with inorganic mercury and methylmercury is described The method is based on the rapid conversion of organomercurials first into inorganic mercury and then into atomic mercury suitable for aspiration through the gas cell of a mercury vapour concentration meter, by a combined tin(II) chloride-cadmium chloride reagent It was found that if 100 mg of tin(II) chloride alone were added instead of the tin(II) chloride-cadmium chloride reagent, only the release of inorganic mercury influenced the peak deflection of the potentiometer, thus permitting the selective determination of inorganic mercury in the presence of methylmercury It was possible first to release inorganic mercury then, after re-acidification of the reaction mixture, methylmercury, by adding the tin(II) chloride-cadmium chloride reagent and sodium hydroxide When total mercury and inorganic mercury were determined separately, the difference between results gave the methylmercury content of the sample
345 citations
TL;DR: An artificial hair-waving which is popular among Japanese women and the use of thiol-containing solutions for reforming hair-wavings was tested for its effects on hair mercury values, with the largest effect for reducing organic mercury concentrations at all the PH conditions tested.
Abstract: An artificial hair-waving which is popular among Japanese women and the use of thiol-containing solutions for reforming hair-wavings was tested for its effects on hair mercury values. The first step of the procedures, shampooing and drying, entailed slightly organic mercury concentrations; the second step, applying the cosmetic containing thiols, reduced organic mercury concentrations to less than half of the original value. After completion of all 5 steps, the organic mercury concentration decreased to one third of the original value and the inorganic mercury concentration decreased only slightly.
48 citations
TL;DR: Samples of antique and contemporary human hair were analyzed for lead by atomic absorption spectroscopy and antique hair contained a significantly greater amount of lead than did contemporary hair.
Abstract: Samples of antique and contemporary human hair were analyzed for lead by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Antique hair contained a significantly greater amount of lead than did contemporary hair.
46 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a multielement analysis of human hair was carried out to elucidate the levels of various trace element concentrations in hair of local population in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Abstract: Applying instrumental neutron activation analysis, multielement analysis of human hair was carried out to elucidate the levels of various trace element concentrations in hair of local population in the Tokyo metropolitan area. 202 hair samples were collected from the inhabitants classified by sex and five age groups. Using several combinations of irradiation time, cooling time and counting time, forty elements were quantitatively analyzed. The method of analysis for data including samples under detection limit is discussed, assuming that the frequanecy distribution of trace element contents in hair is log-normal.
43 citations
TL;DR: Hair samples from the Oriomo Papuans, being sago-and meat-eaters, were analysed for zinc, copper, and inorganic and organic mercury concentrations as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Hair samples from the Oriomo Papuans, being sago‐ and meat‐eaters, were analysed for zinc, copper, and inorganic and organic mercury concentrations. Values obtained were compared between the sexes, and with those for Japanese islanders (rice‐ and fish‐eaters) on Kuchinoshima in the south of Japanese mainlands. Hair zinc values of female Papuans were significantly lower than those of male Papuans and adult male and female Japanese islanders, but no difference was found in hair copper values. Hair organic mercury values were markedly higher in Japanese islanders than in Papuans. The low levels of hair zinc nutriture in female Papuans was discussed in relation to the food consumption and the high incidence of stillbirth.
19 citations