Lifestyle influence on trace element contents in human scalp hair of young residents in different urban contexts. Preliminary results.

A causal relationship between earth material and human health, although not always proven, is highly plausible because many chemical elements in rocks and soils are directly inhaled by respiration or transmitted, via air, water and vegetation, into food chain and then to human body. It is well known that metals and metalloids may result essential to biochemical and physiological functions, but it is also well known that health problems may derive from either dietary deficiencies or excesses. Among the techniques employed to assess the exposure of living organisms to metals and metalloids present in the environment, the human biomonitoring has attracted the attention of investigators over th…