Human hair

REVIEW: yes

DATE: 2012 (references up to 2010)

REF: M. Filella, N. Belzile and Y.-W. Chen. Human exposure to antimony. II. Contents in some human tissues often used in biomonitoring (hair, nails, teeth). CRITICAL REVIEWS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, 42, 1058-1115 (2012).

NUMBER OF REFERENCES IN REVIEW: 166 (of which 5 on nails only and 4 on teeth only)

NUMBER OF CITATIONS (Web of Science™, up to 31 October 2016): 6

PREVIOUS REVIEWS? No

CONCLUSIONS (adapted from the review):

  • A total of 132 studies containing antimony data in human hair were collected. Publication dates range from 1957 to 2010.
  • Antimony concentrations in hair are close to, and often below, the detection limit of the analytical techniques applied. This may have the effect of overestimating the Sb concentrations reported. Most of the available values for Sb concentrations in hair have been published in multielemental studies, with the concomitant limitations on analysis and interpretation.
  • On the basis of published values, it is not possible to establish a reference value for the contents of Sb in the hair of healthy, nonexposed individuals. However, it is possible to situate a concentration ceiling at 0.1 μg g−1, with a probable reference value of around 0.05 μg g−1.
  • It is strongly recommended that journal editors avoid publishing studies containing Sb concentrations largely exceeding these levels of concentration for unexposed, healthy individuals, unless the authors provide clear justification for the divergence. Irrespective of their objectives, all studies should include the analysis of a hair CRM that has a certified value for Sb.
  • The widespread practice of comparing results from different studies in the belief that they reflect true geographical (i.e., country) differences should be avoided. The number of confounding factors is such that observed differences, if any, are more likely to reflect differences in analytical procedures or be the composite effect of factors other than country boundaries.
  • No pronounced effect related to antimony can be deduced from occupational and environmental exposure studies; measuring antimony concentration in hair seems to be of very limited usefulness.

PAPERS PUBLISHED AFTER REVIEW OR MISSED: Cihan et al., 2011; Gadhari et al., 2011; Kumtabtim et al., 2011; Liu et al., 2011; Wu et al., 2011; Blaurock-Busch et al., 2012; Dongarrà et al., 2012; Serdar et al., 2012; Khudzari et al., 2013; Fazelirad and Taher, 2014; Li et al., 2014Varrica et al., 2014;  Huang et al., 2015; Koç et al., 2015; Buononato et al., 2016; Cardozo et al., 2016, Ye et al., 2018.

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