title: Distribution of uranium, thorium and some stable trace and toxic elements in human hair and nails in Niška Banja Town, a high natural background radiation area of Serbia (Balkan Region, South-East Europe).
abstract: Human hair and nails can be considered as bio-indicators of the public exposure to certain natural radionuclides and other toxic metals over a long period of months or even years. The level of elements in hair and nails usually reflect their levels in other tissues of body. Niška Banja, a spa town located in southern Serbia, with locally high natural background radiation was selected for the study. To assess public exposure to the trace elements, hair and nail samples were collected and analyzed. The concentrations of uranium, thorium and some trace and toxic elements (Mn, Ni, Cu, Sr, Cd, and Cs) were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). U and Th concentrations in hair varied from 0.0002 to 0.0771 μg/g and from 0.0002 to 0.0276 μg/g, respectively. The concentrations in nails varied from 0.0025 to 0.0447 μg/g and from 0.0023 to 0.0564 μg/g for U and Th, respectively. We found significant correlations between some elements in hair and nails. Also indications of spatial clustering of high values could be found. However, this phenomenon as well as the large variations in concentrations of heavy metals in hair and nail could not be explained. As hypotheses, we propose possible exposure pathways which may explain the findings, but the current data does not allow testing them.
authors: National Institute of Radiological Sciences, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-8555, Japan. Electronic address: sahoo@nirs.go.jp.
authors: S K
authors: SK
authors: Sahoo
authors: Institute of Nulcear Sciences "Vinca", University of Belgrade, P.O Box 522, 11000 Beograd, Serbia.
authors: Z S
authors: ZS
authors: Žunić
authors: National Institute of Radiological Sciences, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-8555, Japan.
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Kritsananuwat
authors: Department of Food Chemistry and Nutrition, Medical College Jagiellonian University, Medyczna 9, 30-688 Kraków, Poland; Henryk Niewodniczański Institute of Nuclear Physics, Radzikowskiego 152, 31-342 Kraków, Poland.
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Zagrodzki
authors: German Fedearal Office for Radiation Protection, Köpenicker Allee 120-130, 10318 Berlin, Germany.
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Bossew
authors: Institute of Nulcear Sciences "Vinca", University of Belgrade, P.O Box 522, 11000 Beograd, Serbia.
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Veselinovic
authors: National Institute of Radiological Sciences, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-8555, Japan.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Mishra
authors: National Institute of Radiological Sciences, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-8555, Japan.
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Yonehara
authors: Institute of Radiation Emergency Medicine, Hirosaki University, Aomori 036-8564, Japan.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Tokonami
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008875:Middle Aged; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D055771:Serbia; D013910:Thorium / Q000032:analysis*; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000032:analysis*; D014501:Uranium / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014131:Trace Elements; D014501:Uranium; D013910:Thorium
keywords: Hair; High natural background radiation area; Nail; Thorium; Trace elements; Uranium