Determination of trace elements in hair of some local population in Iran by instrumental neutron activation analysis

Scalp hair samples from 100 individual residents in Isfahan, Iran were analyzed for Al, Br, Ca, Cu, Hg, I, K, Mg, Mn, Na, S, V, and Zn by instrumental neutron activation analysis. The results of this investigation show that the ranges of the concentration of trace elements in hair are somewhat wide, for example Mg has the range of 20 to 209 ppm for 100 subjects. The results are compared with the data reported in the literatures. A substantive correspondence between the present data and literature values from different countries, have been observed but they did not show any regular dependence. The level of iodine is significantly different from other countries and is strongly linked to local environmental factors. The correlation coefficient for Al–V, Mn–Al, Ca–Mg, and V–Mg pairs was 0.823, 0.821, 0.830 and 0.746, respectively.