Significance of elemental analysis of hair as a means of detecting environmental pollution
The correlation of metal concentrations in hair with those in the critical organs was investigated by tracer studies using V Cr, STHg, XVSe, ZCd, and WVZn in mice. The accumulation of these elements in organs of the mouse (including hair) during acute contamination was confirmed. Chronic studies to observe stable zinc and cadmium concentrations in various organs of the mouse at different ages manifested clear differences between zinc and cadmium accumulation patterns. The tracer study data on metal concentrations in 11 organs and those obtained by chemical analysis were compared. In the case of zinc, the correlation between the two is high, irrespective of the age of the mice; for cadmium no correlation was present in young mice but a correlation was seen in mice at ages of 19 weeks or more. Thus, the age-dependent variation of metals in organs is another factor that has been considered. Values for concentrations of several metals in critical organs and hair were compiled from the literature and compared. These studies led to the following conclusions: Hair is a reasonable indicator of mercury and chromium contamination, as these elements are readily deposited into hair and stay a comparatively long time. The time-dependent shifts of zinc and selenium in hair reflected their kinetics in the whole body, though their concentrations in hair were not higher than those in other organs. Hair was found to be a poor indicator of cadmium contamination, as the concentration of cadmium in hair was not parallel to that in the critical organs of the same mouse.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Tokyo, Japan
- OSTI ID:
- 6297306
- Journal Information:
- Environ. Res.; (United States), Vol. 38:2
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
CADMIUM
BIOLOGICAL ACCUMULATION
CHROMIUM
CRITICAL ORGANS
ACTIVATION ANALYSIS
HAIR
MERCURY
SELENIUM
ZINC
ACUTE EXPOSURE
AGE DEPENDENCE
CADMIUM 109
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CHROMIUM 51
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CONTAMINATION
DATA COMPILATION
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
MEASURING METHODS
MERCURY 203
MICE
SELENIUM 75
TIME DEPENDENCE
TRACER TECHNIQUES
ZINC 65
ANIMALS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-PLUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BODY
CADMIUM ISOTOPES
CHROMIUM ISOTOPES
DATA
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
ELEMENTS
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
HEAVY NUCLEI
INFORMATION
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
ISOTOPES
MAMMALS
MERCURY ISOTOPES
METALS
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANS
RADIOISOTOPES
RODENTS
SELENIUM ISOTOPES
SEMIMETALS
SKIN
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
VERTEBRATES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ZINC ISOTOPES
550501* - Metabolism- Tracer Techniques