Occurrence of palladium and platinum in human scalp hair of adolescents living in urban and industrial sites

Platinum group elements (PGEs) can be naturally found at very low concentrations in the Earth's crust. However, the increasing uses of PGEs in vehicle exhaust catalysts, in addition to some other applications (industry, jewelry, anticancer drugs) cause their anthropogenic emission and dispersion in the environment. The use of human hair samples analysis is considered a suitable biological indicator to assess human occupational and environmental exposure. It is an easily accessible material for individuals or population groups of non-invasive sampling. The aim of this study is a comparative analysis to investigate human hair content of Pd and Pt in adolescents, of both genders, residing near…