Coverage intervals for trace elements in human scalp hair are site and also gender-specific

Hair analysis is a powerful tool for assessing human exposure to metals and metalloids (MM). The basis for interpreting laboratory results lie on the use of coverage intervals (CI), computed between the 0.025 and 0.975 fractiles, from a well-defined group of reference individuals reflecting normal and healthy people. A critical point in efficient use of CI, when used for comparative decision-making processes, forensic and clinic considerations, is constituted by confounding factors as the specific living site of study population and gender of participants. Our study aims to demonstrate that hair levels of trace elements are site specific and also gender specific. We have taken into account …

SOURCE RECOGNITION OF INHALED ATMOSPHERIC PARTICLES ACCORDING TO GEOCHEMICAL AND STATISTICAL EVALUATIONS OF TRACE ELEMENT SIGNATURES

During 2001 the Mount Etna had a large eruption producing a large amount of pyroclastic products consisting of a mixture of glass, minerals and soluble salt materials (SAF) encrusting solid particles. Inhalation of the finest of these materials induced pulmonary diseases in people living in subjected areas and gave us the possibility to collect bronchoalveolar lavages (BAL) from people in care in Catania hospitals. Concentrations of several trace elements measured in these BAL fluids (BALF) evidence strong enrichments in several trace elements compared to reference values. Related enrichments factors, calculated with respect to composition of volcanic ejecta (EFASH), show similar values in …

Metals in Scalp Hair from Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Patients (RRMS)

We measured the concentrations of 21 chemical elements (TE) in hair of 48 Sicilian patients with RRMS compared with 51 controls (HC). MS patients showed a significantly (p<0.01) lower hair concentration of Al and Rb and higher hair concentration of U compared to HC. The percentage of MS patients showing hair elemental concentrations greater than the 95th percentile of controls was 20% for Ni, 19% for Ba and U, and 15% for Ag, Mo and Se. The ratio Zn/Cu varied from 17 to 19, with no significant differences between HC and MS groups or between individuals differentiated by gender. No significant association was found between levels of each TE and age, disease duration, Expanded Disability Stat…

Solid-liquid interactions in human lung system enhanced by yttrium and REE distribution in Broncho-alveolar lavages.

How trace element distributions can be used to probe human exposure to atmospheric fallout

Medical literature recognised several effects of human exposure to inhalation of air dispersed particles that could induce pulmonary diseases, but the hypothesis that reactions occurring between inhaled particles and human respiratory fluids could involve trace element leaching was poorly understood and only a scarce literature about in-vitro experiments suggested it. The present research was carried out on a group of volunteer patients exposed to the natural inhalation of atmospheric particles in a highly anthropized area close to Mt. Etna under explosive volcanic eruption in Summer 2001. Collected data shoed, for the first time, that the dissolution of inhaled solids influenced the chemis…

Trace elements in hair of urban schoolboys: a diagnostic tool in environmental risk assessment.

Hair analysis may represent a means to quantify the relationship between human exposure to metal contamination and the environmental conditions of workplaces or residence sites. Hair are stable and their composition does not change over short time period. Furthermore, sampling procedure is very easy, requires no specific professional skills, is painless and non-invasive. 334 hair samples were collected from Caucasian children 11-13 years old, of both genders, without colored or treated hair, living in several Sicilian towns characterized by different geochemical environments: urban (Palermo), volcanic (Etna), mining area (Antillo-Fiumedinisi), industrial site (Pace del Mela), uncontamined a…

MODELLING OF WATER-ROCK INTERACTIONS IN CARBONATE AQUIFERS: INSIGHTS FROM A CASE STUDY IN THE MADONIE AREA (SICILY)

Modelling of water rock interactions in a carbonate aquifer: insights from a case study in the Palermo province

Lead isotopes in biological matrices to identify potential sources of contamination: the case study of Sulcis-Iglesiente district (SW Sardinia, Italy)

The Sulcis-Iglesiente district has been, until recently, one of the most important Italian polymetallic mining areas for the extraction of lead. Located close to the town of Iglesias, the San Giorgio area constitutes a dramatic example of an area affected by intense mine pollution. Epidemiological studies regarding the mining areas of Sardinia have indicated the Sulcis-Iglesiente as a typical example of how dispersion of metal can affect human health. We have chosen this peculiar area to evaluate whether a supposed prolonged and continuous exposure to high lead concentration can be detected by means of a bio-monitoring procedure that uses the analysis of human scalp hair and the measurement…

Influence of industrial activity on metal and metalloid contents in scalp hair of adolescents

Petrochemical industries represent a controversial although important economical resource. They offer a great deal of job opportunities producing also a development of several areas. However, such kind of industrial plants are responsible for the change of the environmental background through the emission of toxic pollutants such as metalsmetalloids and organic compounds. People living in cities close to such industrial plants are particularly exposed to a severe environmental decline, which implies the deterioration of the quality of air, soil, water and food with the consequent human health concerns. The municipalities of Gela (GL) and Pace del Mela (PM), located respectively along the Me…

Can we consider a natural environment always of high quality and adequate to protect population from potential risks of health threats?

The question posed in the title arise because the current knowledge suggests that there are important, both beneficial and adverse, relationships between natural environment and human health. The human body obtains metals and metalloids from diet, some of which are derived from local foodstuffs and municipal water supplies, and it is therefore plausible that areas characterized by various types of bedrock and superficial materials, upon which food is grown and water drained, provide different availabilities of trace elements. The present study aimed at elucidating whether the degree of human exposure to trace elements is subject to changes in local environmental factors. This hypothesis was…