HUMAN HAIR ANALYSIS BY PIXE
Abstract
Hair is the unique biological material which, because of its growth, reflects the biomedical and environmental history of the subject. Because of convenience in handling and sampling and relatively high concentrations of metals, trace-element analysis of human hair has been applied widely for different purposes.
Although even the measurements of the bulk trace element levels contain some information, the real meaning is contained in longitudinal and radial concentration profiles. This is best achievable by X-ray emission spectroscopy measurements.