Analysis of Chromium, Mercury, Silver and Zinc in Hair Samples from Dentists Practicing in Benghazi, Libya

The measurements of mercury, zinc, chromium and silver in hair samples of dentists and control group were carried out by neutron activation analysis. Our results showed that, the level of mercury (mean ± standard deviation) in hair samples of dentists were 5.99±2.64 mg/kg (range of 3.44-776 mg/ kg) and for control group were 2.45±0.62 mg/ kg (range of 1.70-3.48 mg/ kg) and the difference between the two groups was significant. A high level of zinc in hair samples of dentist and control group was also observed. The level of zinc in dentist was 1081.14±495.36 mg/ kg (range of 315-1770 mg/kg) while the mean level of zinc was 1862±1581.76 mg/ kg for the control group (ranged from 688 to 5256 mg/ kg) which was found to be significantly higher than those for dentists. The mean levels of chromium and silver show no significant difference between dentists and control group. The hair mercury level of dentists was correlated to the number of weekly working hours, experience in years and age while gender, fish consumption and the number of dental amalgam in mouth of dentists were found to be uncorrelated to the level of mercury. (author)