Trace Elements in Hair from Tanzanian Children: Effect of Dietary Factor
- Department of Physics, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam (Tanzania, United Republic of)
- Department of Physics, School of Electronics and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford (United Kingdom)
Trace elements in certain amounts are essential for childrens' health, because they are present in tissues participating in metabolic reactions of organisms. Deficiency of the essential elements may result in malnutrition, impaired body immunity, and poor resistance to disease. These conditions might be enhanced against a background of additional adverse environmental factors such as toxic elements. The analysis of elements in childrens' hair will give information on the deficiency of essential elements and excess of toxic elements in relation to their diet. In this study, 141 hair samples from children (girls and boys) living in two regions of Tanzanian mainland (Dar es Salaam and Moshi) and the island of Zanzibar have been analysed for trace elements in relation to food consumption habits. The analysis was carried out using long and short irradiation instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) of the Nuclear Physics Institute at Rez, Czech Republic. Arithmetic and geometric means with their respective standard deviations are presented for 19 elements. Subgroups were formed according to age, gender, and geographic regions from which the samples were collected. Differences in concentrations for the groups and with other childhood populations were explored and discussed.
- OSTI ID:
- 21301134
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1119, Issue 1; Conference: 3. IUPAP international conference on women in physics, Seoul (Korea, Republic of), 8-10 Oct 2008; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3137854; (c) 2009 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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