title: Determination of exposure to lead of subjects from southwestern Poland by human hair analysis.
abstract: The aim of the present work was to investigate the exposure to lead from various sources by investigation of mineral composition of human scalp hair. The research was carried out on hair sampled from 267 young adults living in Wrocław (southwest Poland). The effect of the place of residence, diet, and lifestyle on lead content in hair was examined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Lead was determined at the wavelength 220.353 nm. These outcomes were reached by linking the results of lead level in hair with the results of questionnaire survey. The mean lead level in hair of the whole examined population was 2.01 ± 2.10 mg kg(-1). Lead can enter the human body mainly by inhalation and gastrointestinal absorption. It was found that consuming cheese, fish, and lettuce caused increased level of lead in hair. On the other hand, drinking of milk, tea, coffee, or lemon resulted in decreased content of lead in hair. Additional source of exposure to lead could be cigarette smoking, distance to the traffic road, painting the walls, amalgam filling. Based on the results, it can be concluded that exposure to lead can occur mainly from eating habits and environmental exposure.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Inorganic Technology and Mineral Fertilizers, Wroclaw University of Technology, Smoluchowskiego 25, 50-372, Wroclaw, Poland, izabela.michalak@pwr.wroc.pl.
authors.forename: Izabela
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Michalak
authors.forename: Paulina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wołowiec
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chojnacka
mesh_terms: D004032:Diet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D011044:Poland; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D007854:Lead