Assessment of Typical Heavy Metals in Human Hair of Different Age Groups and Foodstuffs in Beijing, China

Abstract

Human hair of different age groups and foodstuff samples were collected in Beijing, China. The concerned metals—Cd, Cr, Pb, As, and Hg—were analyzed, and the metal levels in relation to age, gender, and dietary intake were further assessed. Results showed the highest level of the metals was shown by Pb, with an average concentration of 1.557 ± 0.779 mg/kg, followed by Cr (0.782 ± 0.394), Hg (0.284 ± 0.094), As (0.127 ± 0.078), and Cd (0.071 ± 0.032), following a decreasing order of Pb > Cr > Hg > As > Cd, which were all below the upper limit of normal values in China. The heavy metal concentrations varied greatly among different age groups, and higher concentrations for Cd, Cr, Pb, and As appeared in female hair, whereas higher Hg concentration were found in male hair, suggesting that age and gender were not crucial factors for assessing metal concentrations in human hair. The ingestion of cereals and vegetables were the main route by which heavy metals in the environment create hazardous health effects for local inhabitants, but the estimated metal intakes through food consumption were all lower than the proposed limit of Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake (PTWI), indicating that heavy metals posed no health risks for the inhabitants. Furthermore, little relationship was found between metal intakes and the corresponding metal levels in hair. Nevertheless, the results of this study can be used to analyze the internal heavy metal burden in the resident population of Beijing area and can also serve as reference for further studies.

Epidemiological Study on Metal Pollution of Ningbo in China

“…The biological monitoring of metal pollution for human exposure is of optimal interest for researchers [ 33 ]. As a stable matrix for human bio-monitoring [ 34 ], human hair has many advantages, such as easy collection, low cost, easy transport and storage [ 35 ], and less invasive [ 36 ].…”

Analysis of Heavy Metals in Foodstuffs and an Assessment of the Health Risks to the General Public via Consumption in Beijing, China

“…According to a previous study [2], the collected vegetables and fruits were firstly washed three times with de-ionized water before being cut into slices, and dried until they reached a constant weight. The dried samples were then ground in a porcelain mortar and passed through a 200-mesh sieve and finally stored in polyethylene bags.…”

“…Foodstuffs (such as vegetables, meat, cereals, fruits, and fish) are the most important part of the human diet, because they can provide the body with protein, vitamins, carbohydrates, calcium, iron, and other essential micronutrients (such as Cu, Zn) [1,2]. Therefore, the intake of various foodstuffs has become the main source of the nutrients, but also a route for the pollutants to enter into the human body [3].…”

Occupational Exposure Assessment of Major and Trace Elements in Human Scalp Hair Among a Group of Eritrean Workers

“…Multivariate analyses evidenced gender differences for several elements as shown in Table 5. The relevance of gender on the levels of environmental compounds in biological samples has already been established by other researchers [23,24,41,42,[52][53][54]. These differences can be in part attributed to genetic and hormonal factors, which can interfere with the absorption, distribution, transformation, and excretion of environmental compounds after their intake, as hypothesized previously when gender differences in human biomonitoring studies emerged [52].…”