Element composition of human hair and environmental monitoring

By applying neutron activation analysis technique, a survey was carried out to determine 23 trace elements in human hair of the inhabitants of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. A total of 1825 scalp hair samples were collected from the subjects ranging from sixteen to sixty years. The group consisted of 972 males and 853 females. The arithmetic means for each of 23 detected elements in hair are given for the area analyzed as well as for various places in Uzbekistan on the basis of age, sex and other parameters. The maps of the element distribution have been composed for the whole area. The element composition has been shown to be quite informative for the evaluation of biogeochemical living conditions and this in its turn may be of certain importance for the investigation of some endemic diseases. (author)