Content of zinc in serum, urine, hair, and toenails of New Zealand adults.

The content of zinc in samples of serum, hair, and toenails and in a 24 hr urine from groups of the New Zealand population was investigated. The 110 normal healthy adults were mainly male and female students; the female students had a higher serum zinc and hair zinc concentration but a lower urinary zinc excretion than did the male students. The range in values within the normal groups was wide. No strong relationship was found with linear regression analysis or with multiple regression analysis of the data for the male or the female students. Other groups studied were oyster openers with a higher dietary intake of zinc from oysters, industrial workers exposed to zinc in their occupations, and hospital patients with leg ulcers or various dermatoses and with a potentially low zinc status. Only external exposure to zinc from an industrial source (galvanizing) or from the use of zinc-based creams increased the zinc concentration in the samples measured, and then only in hair and toenails. The hospital patients did not appear to have a lower zinc status comparable with adults from other countries. It was concluded that the measurement of zinc in serum, urine, hair, and toenails did not provide a sensitive indication of zinc status.