Correlation of zinc concentrations in human plasma and hair

Low Levels of Zinc in Hair, Anorexia, Poor Growth, and Hypogeusia in Children

“…Zinc levels in human hair had been the subject of several reports [3,23,28,35,42,46] and comments [8,22,53] since the first documentation of low levels of zinc in hair of humans who were zinc deficient [48]; the potential advantages of this tissue as an index of the nutritional status of zinc have been re-emphasized recently [53], together with some of the problems in interpretation. The possible contribution of the external environment to zinc in hair content after adequate sample washing procedures has been controversial [2,22,35,53].…”

Toxicological Profile for Zinc

“…However, the relationships between zinc exposure levels and the levels of zinc in biological fluids have not been established. Hair and nail samples may be a potential biomarker for long-term zinc exposure (McBean et al 1971;Rivlin 1983;; however, no correlation has been demonstrated between these parameters and zinc exposure levels. Development of a biomarker with more exposure and dose data would aid in future medical surveillance that could lead to better detection of zinc exposure.…”

“…Mean zinc concentrations of 129-179 µg/g have been estimated for nails (Hayashi et al 1993;) and 102-258 µg/g for hair (Folin et al 1991;McBean et al 1971;Provost et al 1993;. Most investigators have found a poor correlation between hair and plasma zinc levels since the zinc in hair does not exchange with the body zinc pool (McBean et al 1971;Rivlin 1983).…”

“…Mean zinc concentrations of 129-179 µg/g have been estimated for nails (Hayashi et al 1993;) and 102-258 µg/g for hair (Folin et al 1991;McBean et al 1971;Provost et al 1993;. Most investigators have found a poor correlation between hair and plasma zinc levels since the zinc in hair does not exchange with the body zinc pool (McBean et al 1971;Rivlin 1983). Furthermore, measurements of zinc in hair can be affected by extraneous contamination of hair, contamination by sweat, location of hair sample (distance from scalp), hair coloring, and rate of hair growth (McBean et al 1971;Rivlin 1983).…”

“…Most investigators have found a poor correlation between hair and plasma zinc levels since the zinc in hair does not exchange with the body zinc pool (McBean et al 1971;Rivlin 1983). Furthermore, measurements of zinc in hair can be affected by extraneous contamination of hair, contamination by sweat, location of hair sample (distance from scalp), hair coloring, and rate of hair growth (McBean et al 1971;Rivlin 1983). Although the nail is considered more resistant to washing procedures than hair, external contamination and uncertainties regarding the length and period of exposure reflected by the observed zinc concentration limit this measurement as a biomarker of exposure for zinc ).…”