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Exposure profiles of mercury in human hair at a terai belt of North India

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Abstract

Human hair is frequently used as a bioindicator of mercury exposure. Mercury (Hg) has for centuries been a useful metal in a variety of applications. Unfortunately, this usefulness is counterbalanced by its neurotoxicological health impact. The US Environmental Protection Agency recommends keeping the hair Hg level <1.0 µg/g. Therefore, an investigation has been performed in order to ascertain the hair Hg levels among the people living at the terai belt of North India. Hair samples were collected from 111 individuals and were placed in an identified plastic bag, stapled to prevent the shift of the hair strand. Samples were analyzed by combustion, gold amalgamation, atomic absorption spectrometry (C-GA-AAS). The mean Hg level in hair was 0.28 µg/g for the whole group ranging from 0.0012 to 1.9091 µg/g. The mean hair Hg levels were 0.16 µg/g for men and 0.12 µg/g for women, indicating that men had higher hair Hg levels than women. Total hair Hg was found to be significantly associated with age, gender and fish consumption frequency. 98 % of the total sample had hair Hg concentrations less than 1.0 µg/g, i.e, within safe dose, whereas only 2 % had Hg concentrations greater than 1.0 µg/g, thereby exceeding the safe dose.

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Acknowledgments

Authors gratefully acknowledges Revd Prof J. K. Lal (Principal), St Andrew’s College, Gorakhpur, UP, India, for providing necessary facilities and Jay Patel, ERT, USEPA for providing technical support during the analysis of hair samples. Financial support from Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, in Project No. SR/FTP/ES-77/2013 is duly acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Research Lab, Department of Chemistry, St. Andrew’s College, Gorakhpur, India

    Amit Masih

  2. Department of Chemistry, Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar University, Agra, India

    Ajay Taneja

  3. Environment Response Team, United States Environment Protection Agency, Edison, NJ, USA

    Raj Singhvi

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  1. Amit Masih
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Correspondence to Amit Masih.

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Masih, A., Taneja, A. & Singhvi, R. Exposure profiles of mercury in human hair at a terai belt of North India. Environ Geochem Health 38, 145–156 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-015-9698-8

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