Metals in hair as biological indices for exposure.

Hair samples from three groups of occupationally exposed subjects were analyzed for their lead (Pb), manganese (Mn) and mercury (Hg) contents. For lead (number of subjects, n = 209), the hair Pb ranged from 0.93 to 3527 micrograms/g (geometric mean, GM = 641) and blood Pb from 33.3 to 774 micrograms/l (GM = 341); for manganese (n = 38), the hair Mn ranged from 0.20 to 52.97 micrograms/g (GM = 2.66) and urine Mn ranged from 1.70 to 17.9 micrograms/l (GM = 5.56); and for mercury (n = 85), the hair Hg from 1.79 to 12.8 micrograms/g (GM = 5.09) and the blood Hg from 0.63 to 57.3 micrograms/l (GM = 10.9). The hair Pb was significantly (P < 0.0001) correlated to blood Pb (r = 0.85); the hair Mn to urinary Mn (r = 0.45); and the hair Hg to blood Hg (r = 0.53). The average metal content at the distal end was not significantly (P > 0.05) different from that of proximal end. The GM levels for the distal end were 223 micrograms/g (95% CI 152-347) and 2.26 (95% CI 0.97-5.29); and those for the proximal end were 186 (95% CI 97-261) and 1.18 (95% CI 0.54-2.58) for Pb and Mn respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)