Determination of the trace element composition of human hair

Abstract

Hair is one of the promising non-invasive samples for monitoring the trace element composition of the human body. But it is necessary to take into account the individual and subpopulation characteristics of sample donors. Inthis work, we experimentally studied the features of the analysis of human hair samples for the determination of trace elements by arc atomic emission spectrometry using a dry residue after acid mineralization. Validation was carried out by comparative analysis by the method used, as well as by atomic emission spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma. It has been shown that the concentrations of Al, B, Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, P, Pb, Zn in a set of 50samples from different donors obey the lognormal law, and therefore, the geometric mean (or median) is preferable as mean value. The content of Ca and Mg is higher in the female hair, while the content of Pb is higher in the male hair. Theconcentrations of Fe, Mn, and Pb are slightly higher in the hair of smokers than in non-smokers, but this difference is not statistically significant (probably due to the small sample size). Although the concentrations of several elements (including Mg, Mn, and P) differ in the hair of donors living in different regions of Russia, we failed to establish asignificant difference of this factor. Positive correlations were found between the contents of some elements, in particular, Mg/Ca, Al/Fe, Al/P, Cu/Fe, Cu/P, Fe/P, weaker relationships were found for Al/Cu, Ca/Mn, Cu/Pb, Mn/P.