Abstract:
Increasing industrialization and "chemicalization" of every sphere of human
activity has created evident disturbances in the natural environment that affect
human health.
From among thousands of antropogenic chemical compounds present in the air,
water and soil, an increased concentration of heavy metals is considered harmful to
living organisms. One difficulty is assessing the concentration of these elements
and finding out the accurate and reliable methods for their measurement.
For this reason the purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of Atomic
Absorption Spectrophometer beside x-ray fluorescence spectrometer as analytical
method which are available for detecting, measuring, and/or monitoring the trace
elements. The intent is to identify well-established methods that can be used as the
standard methods of analysis in our country.
The concentrations of 6 trace elements in the nail and hair of 67 volunteers from a
rural area in western Kordufan considered as a non-industrialized environment
were determined by Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS). Another study was
carried out to determine the concentration of heavy elements from volunteers in
Khartoum state using x-ray fluorescence spectrometer.
Means of concentration and standard deviation are presented for each element,
along with a summary of the effects of age, sex, social habits and resources of
water on the concentration of each element. Correlations for each element between
IV
hair and nail were determined. Concentrations of trace elements were positively
correlated in hair and nail.
It was found that all participants with increased hair trace elements concentration
had increased of at least the same trace elements in their fingernails samples.
The sensitivity and specificity of the atomic absorption technique was obtained
using the detection of trace elements concentration and its correlation ability
between hair and fingernail samples and found to be 91.96% and 100%
respectively. Similarly, its accuracy obtained by the positive and negative
predictive values at 95% confidence interval (95% CI) which was very high, as it
was 100% and 94% respectively.
The concentration of these trace elements obtained from the current study can be
accepted as a reference for future studies in the field, as are carried out in a nonindustrialized
area and the overall means lies within the internationally accepted
range.
