Hair analysis for biomonitoring of environmental and occupational exposure to organic pollutants: State of the art, critical review and future needs

doi:10.1016/j.toxlet.2011.10.021

Toxicology Letters

Volume 210, Issue 2, 25 April 2012, Pages 119-140

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxlet.2011.10.021 Get rights and content

Abstract

This paper presents the current state of the art in human hair analysis for the detection of organic pollutants associated with environmental and occupational exposure. The different chemical classes are reviewed with a special focus set on compounds that were only recently investigated. The importance of methods sensitivity and particularly the influence of this parameter on the results presented in previous publications is highlighted. This report also investigates the relevance of hair analysis as an indicator of subjects’ level of exposure and underlines limitations that are still associated with this matrix. This study also presents a critical assessment of some specific aspects presented in the literature as well as future needs to strengthen the position of hair as a relevant biomarker of exposure to be used in epidemiological studies.

Highlights

► This work reviews the state of the art in organic pollutants analysis in human hair. ► The influence of methods sensitivity on results interpretation was highlighted. ► We investigate the relevance of hair as representative of subjects levels of exposure. ► Critical evaluation of the literature and focus on current limitations was done. ► Future needs for promoting the use of hair in epidemiological studies were identified.

Introduction

The widespread use of hair as a biological matrix for toxicological analysis is about to make it move from the “alternative matrices” to the “classical matrices” category, on the same account as blood or urine (Esteban and Castaño, 2009). Hair has actually become a natural matrix in numerous domains such as forensic and clinical analysis for the detection of medical drugs or drugs of abuse (Tsatsakis et al., 1997, Tsatsakis et al., 2000, Nakahara, 1999, Psillakis et al., 1999, Mieczkowski et al., 2001, Mantzouranis et al., 2004, Boumba et al., 2006, Pragst and Balikova, 2006, Kintz, 2007), assessment of trace element deficiency (Rodrigues et al., 2008, Li et al., 2011) or biomonitoring of the exposure to inorganic compounds (e.g. metals) (Yasutake et al., 2004, Gault et al., 2008, Kehagia et al., 2011, Shah et al., 2011). The increasing interest shown in hair analysis is explained by the several advantages associated with this matrix, and primarily its easiness of sampling and storage which does not require restricted measures such as presence of medical staff, adapted settings, or refrigerated conditions. The memory-effect of hair due to accumulation of chemicals in this matrix and possibility of retrospective analysis also amounted for its success in several contexts such as drug-facilitated crime evidence or assessment of the history of drug consumption in addiction treatment. The extended window of detection, compared with biological fluids, has also contributed to consider hair analysis a most relevant biomarker in the assessment of chronic consumption/exposure. The stability of both the matrix itself and the compounds contained therein also accounted for the use of hair in some history-related cases (Kintz et al., 2007, Musshof et al., 2009) and for the increased use of hair in post-mortem analysis in general (Kronstrand and Druid, 2006).

Compared with the forensic and clinical fields, the literature dealing with human hair analysis for the detection of organic pollutants is rather poor. In fact, to the best of our knowledge, about 40 publications only presented experimental results describing the detection of organic pollutants in hair in relation to environmental and/or occupational exposure. These publications concern only few chemical categories namely pesticides (including different chemical classes such as organochlorines, organophosphates, pyrethroids and others), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins.

The present publication reviews the current state-of-the art of the literature dealing with the detection of organic pollutants in human hair, with a special focus on chemicals which were only recently investigated. The importance of method sensitivity was also highlighted, insofar as it may significantly influence the results, particularly in the biomonitoring of low-level exposure. The relevance and reliability of hair analysis as an indicator of humans’ level of exposure was also investigated. Attention was also paid to the limitations that are still associated with the hair matrix. Finally, studies on organic pollutants in hair were critically reviewed in order to underline possible improvements and future needs to consolidate the use of hair as a biomarker of exposure in epidemiological studies.

Section snippets

“Classical” compounds

Dioxins, i.e. polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and dibenzofurans (PCDF), which are by-products of industrial and combustion process or direct industrial compounds, were among the first organic pollutants detected in human hair (Schramm et al., 1992). PCDDs and PCDFs are typically analyzed using high resolution gas chromatography coupled with high resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC-HRMS) and limits of detection of the methods presented in the different works are close to 0.1 pg/g; which

Importance of method sensitivity in human biomonitoring of low-level exposure

When assessing environmental exposure by the quantification of chemicals in a biological matrix, analytical sensitivity is a fundamental parameter since contrary to cases of acute exposure (e.g. intoxication), levels of concentration resulting from environmental exposure are relatively low. For instance, serum concentration reported in cases of acute poisoning with pesticides range from 20 μg/L (for bifenthrin) up to 1.5 and 6.5 mg/L (for carbofuran and endosulfan respectively) (Lacassie et al.,

Relevance of hair analysis for the biomonitoring of exposure to organic pollutants

“Biomonitoring”, which is the contraction of “biological monitoring”, is generally defined as the assessment of human exposure to chemicals by measuring the chemicals, their metabolites or reaction products in biological matrices. These measurements can be used to assess the internal dose (biomarker of exposure) or the biological response of the body to the exposure (biomarker of effect) (Needham et al., 2007, Stahl et al., 2010). Although no study has hitherto investigated hair analysis as a

External deposition of chemicals on hair surface

One of the most recurrent criticisms concerning hair analysis for the biomonitoring of human exposure to pollutants lies in the possibility of external deposition of chemicals on the hair surface. As discussed above, chemical concentration in hair is interpreted as representative of the internal dose that people have undergone during the period in which the hair sample has grown. Although the biological mechanisms of chemical incorporation in hair are still debated, it is admitted that they are

Critical evaluation of the current literature about the use of hair as a biomarker of exposure in epidemiological studies

Biomonitoring aims at assessing subjects’ level of exposure in order to correlate it to diseases onset and to biological effects in general. In that regard, hair presents the advantage of providing wider windows of detection than urine or blood, and being less affected by short-term variations in the exposure and therefore more representative of the average level of exposure. As a result, values obtained from hair analysis might be more relevant with the aim of investigating possible

Conclusions

Hair analysis is a promising biomarker for the biomonitoring of human exposure to environmental chemicals.

Both parent molecules and metabolites of several chemical classes were proven to be detectable in hair, mainly due to technical progress that allowed improving methods sensitivity to reach levels compatible with chemical concentration in hair.

Moreover, the reliability of results obtained from hair analysis is supported by an increasing number of datasets which demonstrate that chemical

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES), in the framework of the Pesticide Residue Observatory action and by the Luxembourg Ministère de l’Education Supérieure et de la Recherche. The authors wish to warmly thank Laetitia Bragard for her logistic support, without which this study would not have been possible.

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Mini reviewHair analysis for biomonitoring of environmental and occupational exposure to organic pollutants: State of the art, critical review and future needs

Abstract

Highlights

Introduction

Section snippets

“Classical” compounds

Importance of method sensitivity in human biomonitoring of low-level exposure

Relevance of hair analysis for the biomonitoring of exposure to organic pollutants

External deposition of chemicals on hair surface

Critical evaluation of the current literature about the use of hair as a biomarker of exposure in epidemiological studies

Conclusions

Conflicts of interest

Acknowledgements

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Sci. Tot. Environ.

Forensic Sci. Int.

Chemosphere

Chemosphere

The relationship between levels of PCBs and pesticides in human hair and blood: preliminary results

Environ. Health Perspect.

Ethyl glucuronide concentration in hair is not influenced by pigmentation

Alc Alc

Isotope dilution high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method for quantifying urinary metabolites of synthetic pyrethroid insecticides

Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol.

Mini review
Hair analysis for biomonitoring of environmental and occupational exposure to organic pollutants: State of the art, critical review and future needs