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Assessment of Trace Elements in Scalp Hair of a Young Urban Population in Brazil

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to establish background values for toxic and essential elements in hair, interelement correlations and the differences in levels between genders in a healthy young population from Southern Brazil. Hair samples (n = 167) were collected from healthy students aged 12–18 years. Trace element concentrations in hair were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The study provided relatively low values for toxic elements and balanced concentrations for the essential elements in the adolescents' hair with reliable reference data. Interestingly, this study also demonstrated statistical correlations considered newfound between the elements in hair. Hair mercury levels were influenced by gender; with males presenting higher values. The overall findings of the present study, with respect to the estimated chemical elements, are of prime importance in the evaluation of reference values for determining environmental effects on children living in urban areas.

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Acknowledgments

The study was supported by grants from the Secretaria de Saúde do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (Convênio 020/05), the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico-CNPq (MCT/CNPq 06/2008)0 and the Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP). We also thank Alan Silveira Fleck and Bruno Lemos Batista for the technical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Toxicologia e Essencialidade de Metais, Depto. de Análises Clínicas, Toxicológicas e Bromatológicas, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida do Café s/n, Monte Alegre, 14040-903, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil

    Maria Fernanda Hornos Carneiro, Vanessa Cristina de Oliveira Souza & Fernando Barbosa Jr

  2. Laboratório de Estresse Oxidativo e Poluição Atmosférica, Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Avenida Sarmento Leite, 245, Centro, CEP 90050-170, Porto alegre, RS, Brazil

    Maurício Bianchini Moresco, Gabriela Ramos Chagas & Claudia Ramos Rhoden

Authors
  1. Maria Fernanda Hornos Carneiro
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  2. Maurício Bianchini Moresco
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  3. Gabriela Ramos Chagas
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  4. Vanessa Cristina de Oliveira Souza
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  5. Claudia Ramos Rhoden
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  6. Fernando Barbosa Jr
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fernando Barbosa Jr.

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Carneiro, M.F.H., Moresco, M.B., Chagas, G.R. et al. Assessment of Trace Elements in Scalp Hair of a Young Urban Population in Brazil. Biol Trace Elem Res 143, 815–824 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-010-8947-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-010-8947-z

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