Spectroscopic study of metal concentration in hair and finger nails of residents in West Kordufan rural area and from residents in Khartoum State

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.