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Arsenic in the hair

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Handbook of hair in health and disease

Part of the book series: Human Health Handbooks no. 1 ((HHH,volume 1))

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Abstract

The toxicity of arsenic (As) and its effects on living organisms have been known since antiquity. Arsenic accumulates in hair which can therefore be used as a biological indicator of exposure to this toxic element. Several techniques have been used to study the amount of arsenic in hair, which in adult humans is normally less than 1 mg/kg. The most widely used technique for the analysis of As in hair is hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry (HGAAS). Human hair has been analysed to detect As contamination in several countries worldwide. Over a hundred million people alive today, worldwide, are slowly being poisoned by As. Bangladesh, India, Nepal, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, for example, are contaminated with As. High concentrations of As in the ecosystems seriously affect the environment and the health of the local people, especially if some of these pollutants are leached from the surface and reach groundwater aquifers. Of the various routes of exposure to As, potable water poses the greatest risk to human health. After absorption, toxic compounds enter the circulating blood. Arsenic is then rapidly distributed throughout the body before eventually being excreted.

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Abbreviations

As:

Arsenic

ATSDR:

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

DMA:

Dimethylarsenic acid

GIT:

Gastrointestinal tract

HPLC:

High performance liquid chromatography

HGAAS:

Hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry

IAEA:

International Atomic Energy Agency

icp-MS:

Inductively coupled plasma – mass spectroscopy

MMA:

Monomethylarsonic acid

PIXE:

Proton induced x-ray emission

SEM:

Scanning electron microscopy

WHO:

World Health Organization

XES:

X-ray energy spectrometry

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental and Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, Natural and Exact Sciences Institute, Pará Federal University, Augusto Correa Street, S/N, Guamá, Belém-PA, CEP 66075-900, Brazil

    Simone F. P. Pereira & Johny S. Oliveira

  2. Locum Consultant Physician, Department of Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU, United Kingdom

    Rajkumar Rajendram

Authors
  1. Simone F. P. Pereira
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  2. Johny S. Oliveira
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  3. Rajkumar Rajendram
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Simone F. P. Pereira .

Editor information

Victor R. Preedy PhD DSc FRSPH FIBiol FRCPath

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© 2012 Wageningen Academic Publishers

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Pereira, S.F.P., Oliveira, J.S., Rajendram, R. (2012). Arsenic in the hair. In: Preedy, V.R. (eds) Handbook of hair in health and disease. Human Health Handbooks no. 1, vol 1. Wageningen Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.3920/978-90-8686-728-8_12

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