Determination of the Trace Element Composition of Human Nails

• Published in: Journal of analytical chemistry (New York, N.Y.) Vol. 75; no. 3; pp. 409 - 415
• Main Authors: Savinov, S. S., Sharypova, R. M., Drobyshev, A. I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01.03.2020; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aluminum; Analytical Chemistry; Cadmium; Calcium; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Copper; Lead; Magnesium; Smoking; Statistical methods; Trace elements; Zinc; Russia; interelement correlations; trace elements; average value; gender; nails; emission spectral analysis; smoking; individual factors
• ISSN: 1061-9348; 1608-3199
• DOI: 10.1134/S1061934820030168

The analysis of human nail samples for trace elements by arc atomic emission spectrometry using a dry residue after acid mineralization has been experimentally examined. The relatively constant concentrations of the determined elements were observed in the course of monitoring for 6–10 months. The cadmium content of a donor increased briefly, and this increase coincided in time with a short change in location. Thus, the possibility of using nails as a source of information on past exposures was confirmed. It was found that the Mg, Cu, and Zn contents of a set of 73 samples from various donors obeyed the normal law, and the Al and Ca contents corresponded to the lognormal law. The influence of the donor gender on the copper content of the nails was revealed; donor smoking affected the lead content (in the latter case, insufficient statistical significance can be due to the small number of smoking donors and the inability to determine the concentration in all samples). Positive correlations were found between the concentrations of a number of elements, in particular, Mg/Ca, Cu/Zn, Cu/Al, Cu/Mg, and Cd/Pb, and a negative correlation was found for Ca/Cd.