Determination of trace elements in human nail clippings by neutron activation analysis

In this work instrumental neutron activation analysis was applied todetermine trace elements in nail clippings and to make a comparison betweenthe results obtained from samples from healthy children and those with cysticfibrosis (CF) disease. The findings indicated that fingernails from the CFgroup present higher concentrations of Cl, Cr, K and Na than those found inthe control group. On the other hand, the lowest concentrations for Cr werefound in the CF group. For the Al, As, Co, Fe, Mg, Mn, Se and Zn elementsthere were no differences between the results obtained for the CF and controlgroups. The quality control of the results was evaluated by analysing NIST1577b Bovine Liver and NIST 1566a Oyster Tissue standard reference materials.