A study of the characteristics of trace elements in the hair of Japanese; interrelationships and ratios of trace elements in hair.

Abstract

1008 Japanese males and 891 females are subjected to the measurement of 21 trace elements in their hair, measurement being made mainly by the ICAP method and the interrelationship among these elements are discussed. For these trace elements, 20 element ratios are calculated that are of interest to the author or considered as worth recording, including Ca/Mg, Na/K, Zn/Cd and Hg/Se and the representative values are determined statistically. For each combination of elements, difference due to sex are examined. The ratio of Ca/Mg is found to be influenced minimally by the difference in the age or sex while the ratio of Hg/Se is significantly influenced by the sex. Thus it is shown that some trace elements exhibit similar trend both when alone and when paired with another element while others do not. As for the difference between male and female, Ca/Pb, Cu/Mo, Ca/Cd and Ca/P ratios are significantly higher in female and Hg/Se and Fe/Mn in male. In this paper, academically valid screening levels are mentioned for typical trace element ratios in the hair of Japanese for the first time.