title: Human nail usage as a Bio-indicator in contamination monitoring of heavy metals in Dizajabaad, Zanjan province-Iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Due to pedogeochemical background and anthropogenic sources, heavy metal contamination of soil is a widespread problem in some parts of Zanjan province located in North West Iran. In this study an affected area located near National Iranian Lead and Zinc Company (NILZ) was selected for detailed study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty soil samples and eighteen leaf samples were collected and analyzed for heavy metal contamination by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Both soil and plant samples were found to be basically polluted by Pb (72.60 and 97.11), Zn (546.47 and 166.61), and Cd (1.80 and 1.55) mg. kg(-1) respectively. High concentrations of these elements in soil and plant species signifies possible health risks to humans. The distribution maps drawn using Arc GIS (10) show high concentrations of these toxic metals around Dizajabaad village. To assess vulnerability and health risks of metal concentrations in human bodies' twenty nine fingernail samples were also collected from people living in this village.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Analysis for different heavy metal contents of nail samples reveals very high levels of the same toxic elements (Pb = 15.15, Cd = 1.18, As = 15.47, Zn = 68.46 and Ni = 18.22 mg. kg(-1)) compared with samples collected from an unaffected area and available values indicated in the literature. Further, high concentration of heavy metals in the nail samples suggests long term exposure of inhabitants to these toxic metals.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Science Research Laboratory, Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, 45371-38791 Iran.
authors.forename: Abdolhossein
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Parizanganeh
authors.affiliation: Environmental Science Research Laboratory, Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, 45371-38791 Iran.
authors.forename: Abbasali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zamani
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, 45371-38791 Iran.
authors.forename: Vahid
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bijnavand
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, 45371-38791 Iran.
authors.forename: Behzad
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Taghilou
keywords: Bio-indicator; Biomonitoring; Dizajabaad village; Finger nail; Heavy metals