Trace elements in head hair of hemodialysis patients

Instrumental neutron activation analysis /INAA/ was applied to measure trace elements in head hair of 19 patients with impaired renal function /14 males and 5 females/ and of 40 normal individuals /20 males and 20 females/. It was the aim to use head hair as a possible indicator of total body trace elements status and to investigate whether significant changes occur as a result of chronic hemodialysis. The elemental concentrations of 20 elements /i.e. Na, Mg, Al, Cl, K, Ca, V, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Br, Ag, Cd, Sb, I and Au/ are presented and compared with published data. The present study revealed that the hair of the dialysis patients contained about ten times more iodine than that of the control group. No significant differences were observed for the other elements measured, except for sodium and antimony.