[ RadSafe ] Uranium in hair analysis

Sun Sep 7 03:26:25 CDT 2014

There was a volume on the toxicology of uranium, but it mentions "hair"
associated with high doses in mice:

Dan ii

Dan W McCarn, Geologist
108 Sherwood Blvd
Los Alamos, NM 87544-3425
+1-505-672-2014 (Home – New Mexico)
+1-505-670-8123 (Mobile - New Mexico)
HotGreenChile at gmail.com (Private email) HotGreenChile at gmail dot com

On Sun, Sep 7, 2014 at 2:13 AM, Cowie, Michael I <michael.cowie at aramco.com>
wrote:

> I am aware of PhD research being done in this area at the University of
> Reading in the UK. This is being funded by security
> services..............the idea is to identify geographical locations people
> hail from.
>
> Mike
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:
> radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Bair, William
> Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2014 8:41 PM
> To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Uranium in hair analysis
>
> From the Health Physics Society webpage 2008:
>
> Analysis of uranium in hair is not an accepted nor reliable method of
> determining the uranium content in the body. Uranium is a heavy metal and
> is excreted in the hair and nails, but hair analysis for uranium is subject
> to inordinately high erroneous results from uranium contamination of the
> hair from shampoos, soaps, hair dressings, dyes, and hair treatments of
> various types. Moreover, since uranium is ubiquitous throughout the
> environment, the hair sample must be carefully obtained, handled, packaged,
> and shipped under rigid controls to ensure that it is not contaminated by
> coming into contact with materials containing environmental uranium which
> could be transferred to the hair sample. Erroneously high results can also
> occur if analytical procedures are not rigidly controlled and performed
> with scrupulous care. Controls include appropriate washing of the sample to
> remove possible surface uranium and use of special certified ultra-pure
> reagents. Labware must likewise be fre  e of uranium; uranium may leach
> from glassware and contaminate the sample, leading to erroneously high
> readings. Since the hair samples are so small, even a tiny amount of
> uranium contamination may give a grossly exaggerated and erroneous result.
>
> There are few, if any, data in the peer-reviewed scientific literature
> relating to what normal levels of uranium in hair are, or how these levels
> relate to uranium intake, amount in the body, and the amount excreted in
> the hair. Thus, there is a paucity of data regarding the uranium content of
> hair and what constitutes the "normal" range. There are no generally
> recognized established standards for uranium in hair. Background levels of
> uranium in hair are highly variable from person to person and region to
> region, depending in large measure on dietary factors as most of the
> uranium in our bodies comes from the food that we eat.
>
> Ron Kathren, CHP
>
> Bill Bair, Sr. Scientist
> Radiological Engineering
> NSTec, LLC
> Contractor to the US Department of Energy
> (702)295-4463 (W)
> (702)630-0631 (C)
> (702)295-9335 (fax)
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:
> radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Harrison - CDPHE, Tony
> Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2014 10:14 AM
> To: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
> Subject: [ RadSafe ] Uranium in hair analysis
>
> So, over the years we've had any number of people approach us to say that
> they had their hair analyzed for heavy metals and the uranium levels were
> at the 99th percentile, or some such.  For most of these people,
> investigation of their drinking water, food (from gardens, usually) and
> other pathways show little or no exposure to environmental or workplace
> uranium, and I've about convinced myself that such results are mostly false
> positives.  I've been unable to find any good research on the subject,
> although NIOSH has somewhat validated hair analysis for zinc exposure, and
> perhaps a few other metals.  Can any of you direct me to real research,
> good, bad or indifferent, about uranium uptake in hair, or material in hair
> that might mimic uranium?  I don't really know how these hair tests work,
> but I suspect they would not be approved for bioassay or drinking water
> samples.  Any scientific info would be greatly appreciated.
>
> *Tony Harrison, MSPH*
>
> *Acting Chemistry Program Manager*
>
>
> P 303-692-3046  |  F 303-691-4069
>
> 8100 Lowry Blvd.  Denver, CO 80230
>
> tony.harrison at state.co.us  | colorado.gov/cdphe
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