Arsenic Levels in Fingernails as a Biological Indicator of Exposure to Arsenic

Agahian, Behnaz; Lee, Jeff; Nelson, James H.; Johns, Richard E.

doi:10.1080/15298669091370293

Cited by 69 publications

(23 citation statements)

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“…A normal fingernail grows out completely in about 6 months. Fingernail growth rates do vary by finger and hand, but the differences are minimal (Agahian et al, 1990) and in the present study the fingernail clippings were pooled for each participant. The time period of exposure reflected by Table 4.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…No clear conclusions can be drawn from these data due to the very different aims and years of performance of the 11 studies summarized. More recent investigations show that As concentrations in nail tissue (fingernails or toenails) reflect environmental As exposure mainly from drinking water (Karagas et al, 1996;Lin et al, 1998;Hinwood et al, 2003;Mandal et al, 2003) and also from soil (Hinwood et al, 2003) as well as occupational As exposure (Agahian et al, 1990).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparison of arsenic levels in fingernails with urinary As species as biomarkers of arsenic exposure in residents living close to a coal-burning power plant in Prievidza District, Slovakia

Wilhelm

Pesch

Wittsiepe

et al. 2004

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

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The associations between As levels in fingernails with both As concentrations in urine and environmental samples are reported. The participants (aged 20-80 years, mean 66 years) lived in the vicinity of a coal-burning power plant with high As emissions in the Prievidza District, Slovakia. Samples were taken in 1999 and 2000. The As levels in fingernails (n ¼ 524) were measured after washing and digestion with microwave heating by hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry. The spot urine samples (n ¼ 436) were speciated for inorganic As (As inorg ), monomethylarsonic (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) by hydride-cryogenic trap-atomic absorption spectrometry. The geometric mean As level in fingernails was 0.10 mg/g (range, o0.01-2.94 mg/g). There was a clear association between As in fingernails and the distance of the home to the power plant (Po0.001). Geometric mean As levels were: 0.17 mg/g distance r5 km, 0.10 mg/g 6-10 km and 0.08 mg/g 4 10 km. The association between the distance to the power plant and total urinary As (As sum ) (n ¼ 436, no fish consumption during the last 3 days before sample collection) was less pronounced (P ¼ 0.018). The As levels in fingernails were positively correlated to As in soil (n ¼ 207, r ¼ 0.23, Po0.001) and to As in house dust (n ¼ 209, r ¼ 0.30, Po0.001). The associations between urinary As sum and As concentrations in soil (n ¼ 159, r ¼ 0.13, Po0.105) and in house dust (n ¼ 162, r ¼ 0.14, Po0.081) were quite similar. As levels in fingernails were associated with urinary As sum and with the different As species in urine. It is concluded that As levels in fingernails are a reliable marker of environmental As exposure, and that As concentrations in fingernails reflect the As exposure in a similar manner compared with urinary As sum and As species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of arsenic levels in fingernails with urinary As species as biomarkers of arsenic exposure in residents living close to a coal-burning power plant in Prievidza District, Slovakia

Wilhelm

Pesch

Wittsiepe

et al. 2004

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

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“…However, As has a high affinity for sulfhydryl groups resulting in its accumulation in keratin-rich tissues, such as hair, skin, fingernails, and toenails (16)(17)(18). Once bound to keratin, As is isolated from metabolic activity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toenail Arsenic Concentrations, GSTT1 Gene Polymorphisms, and Arsenic Exposure from Drinking Water

Kile¹,

Houseman²,

Rodrigues

et al. 2005

Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers &Amp; Prevention

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Toenail arsenic (As) concentrations were evaluated as a biomarker of inorganic As (As in ) exposure in a population residing in an As-endemic region of Bangladesh. Drinking water and toenail samples were collected from 48 families (n = 223) every 3 months for 2 years and analyzed for As using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Drinking water collected 3, 6, and 9 months before each toenail sample collection was combined into a weighted lagged exposure variable. The contribution of each water sample to the measured toenail As concentration was estimated using maximum likelihood that accounted for fluctuations in drinking water exposure and toenail growth. The best model attributed 69%, 14%, and 17% of the toenail As content to drinking water exposures that occurred 3, 6, and 9 months before toenail collection [95% confidence intervals (95% CI), 0.46-0.97, 0.00-0.31, and 0.03-0.35, respectively]. Generalized additive mixed models using penalized regression splines were employed to model the data. Below a drinking water concentration of 2 Mg As/L, no relationship between drinking water As and toenail As concentrations was observed. Above this concentration, toenail As content increased in a dosedependent fashion as drinking water As increased. Age was a significant effect modifier of drinking water As exposure on toenail As (b = 0.01; 95% CI, 0.002-0.02). Individuals possessing GSTT1-null genotypes had significantly more As in their toenails in contrast to GSTT1 wild-type individuals (b = 0.11; 95% CI, 0.06-0.2). Therefore, it seems that GSTT1 modifies the relationship between As in exposure and toenail As in content.

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“…The major concern with using hair or nails is the ability to account for the presence of exogenous arsenic, which may cause an overestimation of body burden (Agahain et al 1990;Vahter and Lind 1986;Yamauchi et al 1989). On the contrary, because of the potential presence of exogenous arsenic, hair and toenails have been considered useful markers for environmental contamination, as opposed to personal exposure.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Hair and toenail arsenic concentrations of residents living in areas with high environmental arsenic concentrations.

Hinwood

Sim

Jolley

et al. 2003

Environ Health Perspect

125

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Surface soil and groundwater in Australia have been found to contain high concentrations of arsenic. The relative importance of long-term human exposure to these sources has not been established. Several studies have investigated long-term exposure to environmental arsenic concentrations using hair and toenails as the measure of exposure. Few have compared the difference in these measures of environmental sources of exposure. In this study we aimed to investigate risk factors for elevated hair and toenail arsenic concentrations in populations exposed to a range of environmental arsenic concentrations in both drinking water and soil as well as in a control population with low arsenic concentrations in both drinking water and soil. In this study, we recruited 153 participants from areas with elevated arsenic concentrations in drinking water and residential soil, as well as a control population with no anticipated arsenic exposures. The median drinking water arsenic concentrations in the exposed population were 43.8 micro g/L (range, 16.0-73 micro g/L) and median soil arsenic concentrations were 92.0 mg/kg (range, 9.1-9,900 mg/kg). In the control group, the median drinking water arsenic concentration was below the limit of detection, and the median soil arsenic concentration was 3.3 mg/kg. Participants were categorized based on household drinking water and residential soil arsenic concentrations. The geometric mean hair arsenic concentrations were 5.52 mg/kg for the drinking water exposure group and 3.31 mg/kg for the soil exposure group. The geometric mean toenail arsenic concentrations were 21.7 mg/kg for the drinking water exposure group and 32.1 mg/kg for the high-soil exposure group. Toenail arsenic concentrations were more strongly correlated with both drinking water and soil arsenic concentrations; however, there is a strong likelihood of significant external contamination. Measures of residential exposure were better predictors of hair and toenail arsenic concentrations than were local environmental concentrations.

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Arsenic Levels in Fingernails as a Biological Indicator of Exposure to Arsenic

Cited by 69 publications

References 0 publications

Comparison of arsenic levels in fingernails with urinary As species as biomarkers of arsenic exposure in residents living close to a coal-burning power plant in Prievidza District, Slovakia

Comparison of arsenic levels in fingernails with urinary As species as biomarkers of arsenic exposure in residents living close to a coal-burning power plant in Prievidza District, Slovakia

Toenail Arsenic Concentrations, GSTT1 Gene Polymorphisms, and Arsenic Exposure from Drinking Water

Hair and toenail arsenic concentrations of residents living in areas with high environmental arsenic concentrations.

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