Fwd: uranium in hair

["Thatcher, Drew" <dht0303@hub.doh.wa.gov>]

Paul - 

I've looked into this issue with the toxicology folks for the state (of 
Washington).  The one issue that appears clear is that hair is very easy 
to contaminate and yield false results (i.e. shampoos, cross 
contamination, etc.).  Although I have not come across "accepted" values, 
I have come across some articles that provide a good reference and 
discussion.  One in particular, A.R. Byrne and L. Benedik, reported the 
following range of results in their controls for uranium in hair:   2.7 
to 33 ęg/kg with a mean of 13.6 +/- 8.5 and a median of 11.5.  They also 
suggested that using NIES No. 5 Hair Reference material might reduce the 
"wide spread of results" - for which they found a value of 10.3 +/- 1.4 
ng/g.  The reference for this article is Byrne and Benedik, Uranium 
content of blood, urine, and hair of exposed and non-exposed persons 
determined by radiochemical neutron activation analysis, with emphasis on 
quality control, The Science of the total Environment, 107 (1991) 
143-157.  Other relevant articles may be located by performing a lit 
search for I.M. Fisenne and/or G.A. Welford in Radiat. Protection 
Dosimetry and Health Physics.

The toxicology group for the state (of WA) put together a listing of hair 
metals concentrations with references for a variety of elements - if you 
would like I could fax you this info (about three pages).  The 
concentration they report is the range from Byrne and Benedik.

Sincerely,
Andrew H. Thatcher, MSHP, CHP
Washington Department of Health
360-236-3255 voice*
360-236-2255 fax*
dht0303@doh.wa.gov
*new number                  

                  ***** Original Message Follows *****

Radsafers -- does anyone have an accepted value for uranium in hair?
How about uranium in hair colorants?
We received some information from a person who lives near a nuclear
plant and believes he has been
exposed to uranium.  The individual had hair samples analyzed from a
"laboratory" in Chicago that found "elevated uranium"
in the hair.

thanks

paul charp (pac4@cdc.gov)