Measurement of Mercury in Human Hair

Measurements of total and inorganic mercury in human hair were used to trace the history and extent of methyl mercury exposures. Data on the distribution of mercury in hair were converted by a mathematical model into information about the key indices of exposure, including times of onset and termination, peak concentration in hair, and half-time of retention in blood. The model was used for computer simulations of the true distribution of mercury in hair and was validated by analyses of segments of single hairs. Conventional methods of hair sampling and fitting the resulting data to a curve were shown to introduce systematic errors underestimating peak concentrations and overestimating retention times. These errors were minimized by practical modification of the hair sampling procedures and by a new graphic method for deriving the measurements of distribution of the trace element in hair.