Trace elements in suspended particles in a city near the large scale copper mine in the North of Chile

The purpose of this paper is to perform a gravitational and multielemental analysis by the PIXE technique (Particle Induced X-Ray Emission) on particles inhaled in Calama city, located 16 km south of Chuquicamata, a locality in the North of Chile, where the largest open pit copper mine in the world is located. The inhaled particles were collected by separating them into a coarse and fine fraction with an SFU low volume type sampler (Stacked Filter Unit) between November 1990 and May 1991. The inhaled concentration of particles exceeds by an average of 32% the standard given by EPA, being the coarse aerosols being 75% higher than the fine aerosols. The concentrations of elements K, Fe and As, in both the fine and coarse fractions are higher in relation to those found in Antofagasta, a city located 200 km south-west of Calama, on the coast. There is a remarkable enrichment of S in comparison with the ground source. As opposed to the ground source, Cu, As, Zn and Ti are also present.     

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.     

Trace elements in the hair of new-born infants by INAA

Hair has been used as a bioindicator, as a means to measure environmental and occupational contamination, and a a tool for individualization in the forensic field. Because hair is a product of human metabolic activities, its elemental content is of interest in the examination of normal (healthy) metabolism and abnormal (diseased) metabolism. Employing hair analysis, sources of environmental pollution can be identified. Some recent INAA hair measurements were carried out in our laboratory. Hair samples of six new-born infants and their mothers were collected, washed, and analyzed according to standard procedures. By 5-minute irradiation (flux 2.5×10¹¹ n·cm^–2·s^–1) and gamma spectrometric analysis of hair and standard samples, elemental concentrations of Mg, Mn, Cu, Na, V, S, Al, Ca, and the halides were determined. Hair analysis of new-born infants should be of special interest, because it most likely represents endogeneous contribution. Hair assays of mothers and babies may prove to be clear mirrors which reflect observations pertaining to environmental metal mobilization and internal metabolic conditions. This work presents, along with a review of the subject, the results of a case study and identifies areas where further research is needed.     

Trace elements in the scalp hair of patients with alcohol induced psychosis

A number of essential trace elements play a major role in various metabolic pathways and in many diseases like autoimmune, neurological and psychiatric. This study is undertaken with an aim to evaluate the levels of different trace elements in the scalp hair samples of patients suffering from alcohol induced psychosis by particle induced X-ray emission technique (PIXE). It is observed that Fe (p?<?0.0005), Cu (p?<?0.001) are significantly higher in the hair samples of alcohol induced psychosis patients compared to those in normals while concentrations of Mn (p?<?0.005) and Zn (p?<?0.0001) are lower. The concentrations of Co and Ni in the hair samples are found to be in consonance with the concentrations in the normals.     

Trace element analysis of hair of mentally retarded children

Unlike previously reported Zn and Se levels were found to be the same in the hair of mentally retarded children and controls. Non-essential toxic Ag concentration was low whereas that of Hg, Au and Sc rather high in mentally retarded children.     

Analysis of trace elements in scalp hair of mentally retarded children

Hair samples of mildly mentally retarded (LR), moderately mentally retarded (MR), severely mentally retarded (SR) and normal children were collected and measured, using neutron activation analysis and X-ray fluorescence to determine the concentrations of Al, Sb, As, Ca, Cu, I, Fe, Pb, Mg, Mn, Hg, K, Sr, S, V and Zn. The groups of children were of ages between 5 and 13. Difference in the mean concentration of each element between groups was tested by Student"s t-test. No trend, either decreasing or increasing, has been established as the degree of severity increased from normal to SR children, except for the case of Cu. The present work may shed some light in the interpretation of findings on the effects of trace elements on neurobehavioral functions.     

Trace element concentration in hair of Bangladesh children under normal and malnutrition conditions

The trace element concentrations of eight elements (Ca, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb) in the scalp hair of 49 normal and 55 malnourished children of the Bangladesh population, in the age group of 1 to 5 years were analyzed by the external beam PIXE method to establish their baseline values in normal children for pre-diagnostic screening of deficiency and excess in malnutrition. The results of this investigation show that the ranges of trace elements in hair are somewhat wide. For example, the normal Zn level has the range of 63–377 g·g^–1 for 49 subjects. The reasons for these large individual deviations are unknown till now. The average of the elemental concentrations between normal and malnourished groups are compared (t-test,p<0.05). A correlation study has been done on each pair of original data by a non-parametric Speaman's rank test. The frequency distributions of the elements are presented and the results are compared with the data reported in the literature. A substantive correspondence between the present data in hair of both the study groups and the literature values from different countries have been observed but they did not show any regular dependence on the nutritional status of the subjects. Only the low Cu content in the hair of malnourished group can possibly be linked with nutritional disorders as evidenced from this study.Part of a Ph.D. Thesis.     

A study of trace elements in scalp hair and fingernails of industrial workers of Ontario,Canada

Instrumental neutron activation analysis was performed on scalp hair and fingernail samples collected randomly from a group of heavily exposed healthy male industrial workers living in the cities of Hamilton and Toronto (Ont.), Canada. The concentrations of trace elements (Ag, Au, Br, Cd, Co, Cr, Cs, Fe, Hg, Lu, Mn, Mo, Rb, Ru and T₃) were evaluated and compared for scalp hair and fingernails. Various trace elements show similar variations in the two kinds of samples. The results have also been compared with those for normal subjects from USA (scalp hair) and Canada (fingernails).     

Trace elements in the atmosphere of Ankara

Atmospheric particulate material collected in Ankara was analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis. The results are interpreted with respect to trace element concentrations of the earth's crust. Volatile elements such as As, Sb, Zn, Br and Hg are highly enriched suggesting noncrustal origin. Enrichment factors increase with decreasing particle size.Supported in part by the Scientific and Technical Research Council (TÜBITAK) of Turkey.     

Element concentrations in hair of children living in environmentally degraded districts of the East Aral Sea region

Environmental conditions were evaluated by element concentrations in hair of children living near the Aral Sea. Hair samples were provided by 63 children living near the Sea (K-district), and 143 children living about 600 km from the Sea (Z-district). PIXE was applied for the determination of elemental concentrations. The concentrations of Br, Na, Hg, and Ni were higher in K-district, and those of Al, Ca, Cr, P, S, and Si were higher in Z-district than in the other district, respectively. It is considered that these results reflect the environmental situation.     

Trace element profiles in the hair of cancer patients

The trace element profiles of the scalp hair of cancer patients were measured and compared with those of healthy people. Significant differences were observed for several elements, especially for Au, I and Se.     

Determination of trace elements in hair from Tanzanian children: Effect of dietary factors

The objective of this study was to evaluate the concentrations of essential and toxic elements in hair of children in Tanzania in order to assess their nutritional status. 141 samples of hair from boys and girls living in Tanzania were analyzed using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). The mean concentration levels of Zn and Cu were lower whilst those of other elements were in the same range as the hair elemental concentrations reported in the literature. The lower concentrations of Zn might be related to the diet of mainly cereals with low animal proteins consumed by most of the Tanzanian population.     

Trace elements and cosmogenic radioactivity in the meteorite Hohenlangenbeck

Trace elements have been determined by instrumental and radiochemical NAA and the cosmogenic radioactivity of²²Na and²⁶Al using gamma spectrometry in the smallsize L-chondrite Hohenlangenbeck. A low condensation temperature is indicated by relatively high contents of Rb and Cs. The low activity ratio of²²Na/²⁶Al is due to a relatively low particle flux in the orbit during the last four years.     

Trace adsorptive voltammetric determination of antimony in hair

A very sensitive electrochemical procedure for trace determination of antimony is described. The complex of antimony with p-dimethyl-aminophenyl-fluorone (p-DMPF) is adsorbed on a hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE), and the reduction current of the accumulated complex is measured by voltammetry. In linear sweep voltammetry, the reduction potential of the complex is more positive than that of the free dye. The peak height of the complex is proportional to the concentration of antimony in the range of 4.0 x 10(-9) to 4.0 x 10(-7) M, the detection limit is 1.0 x 10(-9) M Sb(III) for a 5 min preconcentration time. The relative standard error for the determination of 8.0 x 10(-8) M Sb(III) is 2.9%.     

Trace elements distribution in the Amazon floodplain soils

Neutron activation analysis was performed on aluvial soil samples from several sites on the floodplains of the Amazon River and its major tributaries for trace elements determination. The spatial and temporal variations of chemical composition of floodland sediments in the Amazon basin are discussed. No significant difference was found in trace elemental distribution in the floodland soils along the Amazon main channel, even after the source material has been progressively diluted with that from lowland draining tributaires. It was also seen that the average chemical composition of floodplain soils compares well with that of the suspended sediments.     

Multielement analysis of the hair of mining industry workers

Scalp hair samples were collected from 75 zinc mine workers at the Nakadatsu Mine in Fukui Prefecture and were subjected to instrumental neutron activation analysis for determination of Cu, Cl, Mn, Ca, Au, Br, As, Na, K, Hg, Zn and Co concentrations. For determination of Cd, atomic absorption spectrophotometry was applied to approximately a half of the samples. The results were compared with the data of inhabitants of Suginami Ward in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Excessive concentration in the mean values of Zn, Cu, Mn and Hg was observed in the hair of the miners as compared with the Suginami residents. On the other hand, the mean concentrations of K and Cl in the hair of the miners were lower than those of the Suginami inhabitants.     

头发中无机元素分析方法及应用的研究进展

人体无机元素含量在头发中较其它体液或组织中高,易于检出。头发能够存储较长的时间信息,并且能提供其空间信息。通过分析其中的无机元素含量和同位素比例,可以说明元素在体内特定时间的变化以及反映人体的地理位置迁移。综述了头发中无机元素分析的前处理和仪器分析方法,重点介绍头发中无机元素分析在环境、医学及法医学研究中的应用,并对未来的技术发展和应用进行展望。     

An INAA study of trace elements in hair samples from two children on different sampling dates

A study of trace elements in hair samples from two children of different sex on different sampling dates has been carried out using INAA. Using several combinations of irradiation, cooling and counting times, about thirty elements were quantitatively determined. Some conclusions could be drawn from the data obtained.Visiting scientist in ENEA C.R.E. Casaccia, Rome, Italy during 1989.     

Instrumental neutron activation analysis of the hair of metallurgical workers

Hair samples were collected from 20 metallurgical workers (10 males and 10 females) and from 59 control subjects (32 males and 27 females), whose jobs do not indicate a specific occupational exposure. The concentrations of ten minor and trace elements (Al, Co, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Sb, Se, V and Zn) were determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). The statistical data distributions, the sex and age influences in these elemental concentrations and the average values obtained for the control group were compared with published data. The effect of occupational exposure to the metallic elements was reflected in elemental composition of hair by significant higher concentration levels of Al, Co, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Sb, V and Zn in the hair of the exposed group, when compared with the control group.