Chapter 7 - Hair Analysis for the Biomonitoring of Human Exposure to Organic Pollutants

Abstract

Although attention paid to hair analysis dates back to the 60s–70s for metals detection and to the 70s–80s for drugs of abuse and medical drugs, interest in this matrix for the assessment of exposure to organic pollutants (OPs) has long been delayed due to analytical limitations. Progresses in analytical sciences over the recent years however changed the story in reaching the levels of sensitivity necessary to detect OPs in hair. This new step was accompanied by a switch from feasibility to field studies including larger number of individuals, investigation on new chemical families of pollutants and significant rise in the number of published works. Along with the increasing interest in the use of hair for the biomonitoring of human exposure to OPs emerged questions relative to this specific application, such as the issue of adequate hair decontamination before analysis. Research works are however filling the remaining gaps, highlighting in the process the prominent place hair analysis deserves for the assessment of human exposure.