Human hair analysis in relation to similar environmental and occupational exposure

• Influence of various factors on elemental composition of human hair was investigated.
• Concentrations of chosen elements in hair samples were determined using ICP–TOF-MS.
• The obtained results were elaborated using the Statistica ver. 10.0. software.
• Differences were observed for the content of Cr, Li, Pb, Sr as the impact of sex.
• Differences were also observed for Sr—as the effect of cosmetic treatment.

The aim of this work was to assess the influence of various factors on the elemental composition of the investigated hair samples. The studied population consisted of students of Faculty of Chemistry at Lodz University of Technology and included 95 subjects. The following elements: Co, Cr, Cu, Li, Sr, Pb were determined by inductively coupled plasma time-of-flight mass spectrometry ICP–TOF-MS. The obtained results were elaborated using Statistica ver. 10.0 software. Statistically significant differences were observed for the content of Cr, Li, Pb and Sr as the impact of sex, and Sr—as the effect of cosmetic treatment. Based on the calculated Spearman correlation coefficients, a statistically significant correlation between the concentration of pairs of metals were found for Pb = f(Co, Cr, Cu); Sr = f(Cu); Li = f(Cr), Cr = f(Li, Pb), Co = f(Pb) and Cu = f(Pb, Sr). A statistically negative correlation was obtained for Sr–Li. In the population two groups were distinguished: males and females; smokers and non-smokers.