Assessment of Commercial Laboratories Performing Hair Mineral Analysis

Seidel, Sharon L.; Kreutzer, Richard; Smith, Daniel; McNeel, Sandra V.; Gilliss, Debra

doi:10.1001/jama.285.1.67

Cited by 150 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Furthermore, its clinical use has been tried for diagnosis of some diseases and symptoms [7,8], but reliability remained to be confirmed [15,16]. Our previous studies demonstrated that hair levels of some toxic metals such as lead, cadmium, and aluminum are extraordinarily high in infants and children [6,17].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metallomics study using hair mineral analysis and multiple logistic regression analysis: relationship between cancer and minerals

Yasuda¹,

Yoshida²,

Segawa³

et al. 2009

Environ Health Prev Med

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Objectives The objective of this metallomics study is to investigate comprehensively some relationships between cancer risk and minerals, including essential and toxic metals. Methods Twenty-four minerals including essential and toxic metals in scalp hair samples from 124 solid-cancer patients and 86 control subjects were measured with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and the association of cancer with minerals was statistically analyzed with multiple logistic regression analysis. Results Multiple logistic regression analysis demonstrated that several minerals are significantly correlated to cancer, positively or inversely. The most cancer-correlated mineral was iodine (I) with the highest correlation coefficient of r = 0.301, followed by arsenic (As; r = 0.267), zinc (Zn; r = 0.261), and sodium (Na; r = 0.190), with p \ 0.01 for each case. In contrast, selenium (Se) was inversely correlated to cancer (r = -0.161, p \ 0.05), followed by vanadium (V) (r = -0.128). Multiple linear regression value was highly significantly correlated with probability of cancer (R 2 = 0.437, p \ 0.0001), and the area under the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve was calculated to be 0.918. In addition, using contingency table analysis and the chi-square test, the precision of discrimination for cancer was estimated to be 0.871 (chi-square = 99.1, p \ 0.0001). Conclusions These findings suggest that some minerals such as arsenic, selenium, and probably iodine, zinc, sodium, and vanadium contribute to regulation of cancer and also that metallomics study using multiple logistic regression analysis is a useful tool for estimating cancer risk.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metallomics study using hair mineral analysis and multiple logistic regression analysis: relationship between cancer and minerals

Yasuda¹,

Yoshida²,

Segawa³

et al. 2009

Environ Health Prev Med

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“…Research studies using validated methods can effectively assess methymercury levels of a population (15). Mercury and arsenic poisoning have also been documented with the use of hair analysis (16,17).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Seidel et al (17) recently reported a comparison of hair analysis results in six commercial laboratories. In their paper they concluded that "hair mineral analysis from these laboratories was unreliable," and recommended "that health care practitioners refrain from using such analyses to assess individual nutritional status or suspected environmental exposures" (p. 67).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In their paper they concluded that "hair mineral analysis from these laboratories was unreliable," and recommended "that health care practitioners refrain from using such analyses to assess individual nutritional status or suspected environmental exposures" (p. 67). Indeed, the medical literature makes plain that physicians should not rely solely on hair analysis to diagnose or treat heavy metal toxicity or nutritional deficiencies because these tests are unreliable and have poorly established reference ranges (17,20,21). Accordingly, occupational and environmental physicians have cautioned that making treatment decisions on the basis of hair analysis can result in adverse medical and public health consequences, such as unnecessary and potentially dangerous treatments and needless worry on the part of patients (22).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Seidel et al (17) reported that laboratories vary greatly with regard to the standards used for validation, quality assurance, and quality control. Calibration standards include the use of non-hair mineral standards, pooled inhouse hair samples, and the use of "Chinese commercial hair standard(s) certified for up to 17 elements" (p. 68).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The pitfalls of hair analysis for toxicants in clinical practice: three case reports.

Frisch

Schwartz

2002

Environ Health Perspect

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ArticlesHair analysis is used to assess exposure to heavy metals in patients presenting with nonspecific symptoms and is a commonly used procedure in patients referred to our clinic. We are frequently called on to evaluate patients who have health-related concerns as a result of hair analysis. Three patients first presented to outside physicians with nonspecific, multisystemic symptoms. A panel of analytes was measured in hair, and one or more values were interpreted as elevated. As a result of the hair analysis and other unconventional diagnostic tests, the patients presented to us believing they suffered from metal toxicity. In this paper we review the clinical efficacy of this procedure within the context of a patient population with somatic disorders and no clear risk factors for metal intoxication. We also review limitations of hair analysis in this setting; these limitations include patient factors such as low pretest probability of disease and test factors such as the lack of validation of analytic techniques, the inability to discern between exogenous contaminants and endogenous toxicants in hair, the variability of analytic procedures, low interlaboratory reliability, and the increased likelihood of false positive test results in the measurement of panels of analytes.

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The Uncertainty of Hair Analysis for Trace Metals

Steindel¹

2001

JAMA

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Assessment of Commercial Laboratories Performing Hair Mineral Analysis

Cited by 150 publications

References 25 publications

Metallomics study using hair mineral analysis and multiple logistic regression analysis: relationship between cancer and minerals

Metallomics study using hair mineral analysis and multiple logistic regression analysis: relationship between cancer and minerals

The pitfalls of hair analysis for toxicants in clinical practice: three case reports.

The Uncertainty of Hair Analysis for Trace Metals

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