ArticlePloS one2023
Pre-cleaning of hair is not beneficial in LA-ICP-MS studies of chronic metal exposure.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- Review
- Article
- Optimisation of A Sample Preparation Method for the Determination of Multi-Elemental Compositions in Human Hair By Triple Quadrupole ICP-MS Analysis.Biological trace element research · 2026Article
- Article
- Longitudinal Nephrotoxic Metal Exposure in a Cohort of Farm Workers in Sonora, Mexico.Journal of occupational and environmental medicine · 2025Article
- Benchtop x-ray fluorescence to quantify elemental content in nails non-destructively.The Science of the total environment · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Chronic exposure to toxic metals is a serious global health concern. However, population-wide biomonitoring is costly and carries several sampling constraints. Though hair sampling can be a useful way to assess environmental exposure, external contamination is a long-standing concern, and a pre-cleaning step prior to metal quantification has long been recommended despite a lack of evidence for its efficacy. In this study, we quantified the spatial distribution of 16 elements in unwashed human hair samples using Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), then tested how two common pre-cleaning treatments (Triton-ethanol, Triton-nitric acid) affected metal content in external and interior layers of hair using LA-ICP-MS. We show that elements differ in their spatial distribution across hair and that pre-cleaning is not consistent in its effect on element concentrations and decreases interior concentrations of some elements. We demonstrate that differences among individuals can be quantified reliably with LA-ICP-MS analysis of interior concentrations of unwashed hair. Our study tests the widespread notion that pre-cleaning is essential in analyses of hair for environmental exposure to metals, and examines the benefits of a unified approach to analysis of metals in hair using LA-ICP-MS.
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Registered trials
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