title: Mercury in human hair and blood samples from people living in Wanshan mercury mine area, Guizhou, China: an XAS study.
abstract: Human hair and blood samples from persons living in the town of Wanshan, a mercury mine area in Guizhou Province of China, were collected and the quantitative speciation and structural information of Hg and S in hair samples and of Hg in erythrocyte and serum samples were studied using X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Least-squares fitting of the X-ray absorption near-edge spectra found that inorganic mercury is the major mercury species in hair samples (91.74%), while inorganic and methyl mercury are both about 50% of total mercury in RBC and serum samples, which is in agreement with the data obtained by acidic extraction, fractionation of Hg(2+) and CH(3)Hg(+) and quantification by ICP-MS. Curve-fitting analysis revealed that the Hg-S bond length and coordination number in hair were 0.248+/-0.002 nm and 3.10, respectively, while the S-Hg bond length and coordination number in hair were 0.236+/-0.002 nm and 4.05. The Hg-S bond length and coordination number in RBC were 0.251+/-0.003 nm and 4.09, respectively, while they were 0.228+/-0.002 nm and 4.08 in serum, respectively. The techniques for speciation, structural and binding information described in this study will find the potential application in similar studies of other elements.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Nuclear Analytical Techniques, Laboratory for Bio-environmental Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Yu-Feng
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Chunying
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Bai
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Liya
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.forename: Zeqin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Masaharu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nomura
authors.forename: Yuxi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Jinxuan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Yuliang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Zhifang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chai
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis; D006197:Hair / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood*; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D008906:Mining; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013052:Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D008628:Mercury