Journal of Scientific & Industrial Research Vol. 64, February 2005, pp 119-124 Elements in scalp hair and nails indicating metal body burden in polluted environment Rita Mehra* and Meenu Juneja Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati University, Ajmer 305 009 Received 17 July 2004; accepted 03 November 2004 Heavy metals in biological samples namely hair and nails taken at random were examined in subjects occupationally or otherwise exposed to Pb, Cd, Cu, Mn, Zn, Fe, Ni, Ca, Mg and Cr metals and in controls from subjects working in different environments such as tooth powder manufacturing unit, lead battery unit, locomotive workshop, welding unit and roadways workshop. The significant levels between exposed and unexposed subjects in hair and nails have been computed by student 't' test at p < 0.05. The Pearson Moment Correlation analysis of the data for these ten elements revealed significant positive correlation between Cr/Ni, Fe/Mn, Fe/Cr and Ni/Fe in hair of exposed subjects; Cr/Pb, Mn/Cd, Zn/Cd, Zn/Mn, Ni/Pb, Fe/Pb, Cr/Ni, Cr/Fe and Fe/Ni in hair of unexposed subjects; Cr/Cd, Ca/Cd, Ca/Mn, Ca/Cr, Ni/Cd, Ni/Mn, Ni/Cr,Ni/Ca,Fe/Cr and Ni/Fe in nails of exposed subjects and Cu/Cd, Cr/Cd, Cr/Cu, Zn/Cd, Zn/Cu, Zn/Cr, Ca/Cd, Ca/Cu, Ca/Cr, Ca/Zn, Mg/Cd, Mg/Cu, Mg/Cr, Mg/Ca, Ni/Cd, Ni/Cu, Ni/Cr, Ni/Ca, Ni/Mg/, Ni/Zn, Fe/Cr, Fe/Ni and Fe/Cd in nails of unexposed subjects. This behaviour has been explained in context to the type of exposure. Keywords: Heavy metals, Scalp hair, Nails, Environmental pollution IPC Code: G 01 N 1/40 Introduction A number of tissues in the human body such as the kidney and liver can be used for metal analysis particularly for lead, but these are not easily accessible in living individuals. Specimens readily available for analysis include blood, urine, nails, teeth and hair. Their worth as bio-indicators depends on their capacity to store trace elements. Blood metal levels reflect transient levels whereas hair metal levels show long-term retention, which may be accounted for a long period of exposure 1-3 . Nails also indicate metal body burden 4 . The presence of toxic and trace elements in biological tissues like hair and nails can be a measure of amount absorbed by a person. Determination of trace elements in human hair is important in biological, medical, environmental and forensic science, as it represents an interesting biological matrix for the studies in both, the inorganic and organic field 5 . Hair is an attractive tissue for analysis, because obtaining a sample is noninvasive and that it is relatively inert 6 . Hair and nails are becoming popular for their utilization as a tool for monitoring environmental pollution or intake of toxic metals 7 . Concentrations of metals in hair and nails reflect their mean level in the body during a longer period as compared to body fluids 8-11 . Sukumar et al 12 reported higher element exposure among industrial firework workers than controls. In such studies, the levels found varying for different elements depending upon the nature of occupation 13 . Hair and nail can be used as an indicator for screening population groups occupationally exposed to elemental pollution. Hyoi et al 14 reported significantly higher levels of Cd, Pb, Ni and Cu in hair of electroplating workers than in controls. Occupational exposure to metals increases the body burden and subsequently health hazards. Excess concentration of metals causes: Pb, kidney damage and inhibition of haem synthesis; Cd, gastrointestinal disturbance; Cu, renal failure; Cr, chrome ulcer chrome hole; Mn, hyperirritability, gait, mania, frank psychosis; Ni, dermatitis, respiratory disorder and lung cancer; and Fe, haemorrohagic gastritis, intravascular clotting, acidosis, fatal shock and discoloration of the skin. In continuation to earlier studies 15-16 , the present work is a study on toxic and trace elemental _______________ *Author for correspondence Tel: 0145-2670366, 2670991; Fax: 0145-2430225 E-mail: mehra_rita@rediffmail.com