Arsenic in fingernails | Health & Environmental Research Online (HERO)

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Citation
Tags

HERO ID

1359596

Reference Type

Technical Report

Title

Arsenic in fingernails

Author(s)

Pounds, CA; Pearson, EF; Turner, TD

Year

1979

Report Number

HEEP/80/09358

Volume

Issue

Page Numbers

165-174

Abstract

HEEP COPYRIGHT: BIOL ABS. Fingernails were taken from 5 volunteers who were given a therapeutic dose of arsenious oxide. Fingernail clippings taken over a period of 180 days from the date of ingestion were analyzed for arsenic by neutron activation analysis. Plots showing the amounts of arsenic in the nail clippings show peaks which are attributable to arsenic entering the nail root via the blood stream. The sectional analysis of fingernails taken from victims of fatal arsenical poisoning may well offer an alternative to hair as a method of estimating times of exposure.