Content of heavy metals in the hair

Abstract

The aim of our investigation was to determine of HM content in the hair of people and animals. Two of the main essential elements- Zn and Cu and two of the supertoxical heavy metals- Pb and Cd were chosen. The investigations were conducted in Russian Federation and Belarus Republic in 2001- 2002. About 500 hair samples of people, dogs, cats, cattle, horses, yaks, pigs, sheep goats and rabbits were studied by the stripping voltammetric analysis (SVA) method with TA- 2 analyzer to determine Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd concentrations. The hair samples were prepared according to the methods developed in Tomsk University (Russia) and improved by the authors. The essence of the methods is the multiconsecutive burning of hair samples to ashes and boiling them in concentrated acids to dissolve chemical combinations and transform their metals into ion forms. The zinc concentration was the highest in all hair samples (58.65... 195.15 mg/kg). The copper content was several times less (5.49... 22.63 mg/kg). Lead and cadmium were detected in relatively low amounts (0.32... 2.42 mg/kg and 0.04... 0.92 mg/kg respectively). The highest Pb and Cd levels were detected in cats and people hair.