Head Hair as an Indicator for Assessing Adverse Effect of Heavy Metals on Human Health in Mainpuri Region of India

Pallavi chauhan, Renu Sharma and Ashok kumar

School of chemical Sciences, Department of Chemistry, St. John’s College, Agra - 282 002 (India)

The Analysis of human head hair is recognized for the evaluation of one’s exposure to Xenobiotics: drugs of abuse, pharmaceuticals and pollutants. Hair analysis is a simple diagnostic technique based on the idea that hair provides vital clues about nutritional imbalances in human body. Human head hair concentrations of heavy metals from 175 subjects (92 male and 83 female) aged from 11 to 51 year in Mainpuri region has been studied by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The concentrations of iron and nickel in alcoholic, smoking, vegetarian and non-tobacco consumer subjects have been found higher than that of the non-alcoholic, non-smoking, nonvegetarian and tobacco chewer subjects. Cadmium concentrations in alcoholic, smoking, vegetarian and tobacco chewer subjects have been found higher than that of the non-alcoholic, non-smoking, non -vegetarian and non-tobacco subjects. The concentration of lead and copper in non-alcoholic, smoking, vegetarian and tobacco chewer subjects have been found higher than that of alcoholic, non-smoking, nonvegetarian and non-tobacco subjects. Zinc concentrations in non-alcoholic, non-smoking, vegetarian and non-tobacco subjects have been found higher than that of alcoholic, smoking, nonvegetarian and tobacco chewer subjects.

Heavy metals; hair; AAS; health effects