Caveats in hair analysis in chronic arsenic poisoning.
The diagnosis and evaluation of chronic arsenic poisoning remains a difficult task. Clinical indicators are crude measures, and electromyography adds little to the picture. Blood arsenic levels are transitory, however urine levels are useful for monitoring ongoing exposure. Hair arsenic is useful as a confirmatory feature in chronic arsenic poisoning provided external contamination by arsenic can be excluded. The distribution of arsenic in cross sections or along the length of a shaft of hair cannot distinguish external contamination from arsenic derived from ingestion.
Hindmarsh
J Thomas
JT
Division of Biochemistry, The Ottawa Hospital, and Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The University of Ottawa, K1H 8L6, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. jhindmarsh@ottawahospital.on.ca
D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis*; D020261:Arsenic Poisoning / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans
D001151:Arsenic