Heavy metal in hair samples of 109 non-industrial (miners) population in Katanga.

INTRODUCTION: This survey aims at proposing reference values of metals in the hair, in the copper-belt (Province of Katanga). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We ran a descriptive study, in an etiologic perspective, on a sample of non-industrial population, constituted by students of the University of Lubumbashi, healthy and without medical treatment (n  = 109). Hair samples were analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). RESULTS: Twenty metals were identified and quantified: aluminium, antimony, silver, barium, cadmium, calcium, cerium, chromium, cobalt, copper, tin, iron, magnesium, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, lead, vanadium, and zinc. DISCUSSION: Regarding similar surveys ran upon european no-industrial populations, our results are ranging in the same percentiles. They spread out those percentiles only when our results were too close to quantification limits (silver, tin, mercury, nickel and vanadium). For certain metals, in particular aluminium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, manganese, molybdenum and lead, we have obtained higher contents. Several reasons can explain this specificity: ICP-MS sensitivity, analysis and preparation technique difference, diet difference or simply public health issues… CONCLUSION: Our results are close to others surveys' values. They can be validated as reference values for Katanga general population and used to highlight occupational exposure.

Evaluation of a new generation of plastic evacuated blood-collection tubes in clinical chemistry, therapeutic drug monitoring, hormone and trace metal analysis.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) tubes have several advantages over glass tubes: they are unbreakable, lighter and more easily disposed of. Despite a steady increase in their use and an expansion of the range of available tubes, few studies validating their use have been published in the literature. This paper describes the various studies that have been performed to compare VENOJECT glass, VENOSAFE PET and VENOSAFE PET/heparin tubes for the assay of a panel of analytes in routine clinical chemistry, immunochemistry, hormone and tumor marker analysis and trace metal determination. These studies demonstrate that VENOSAFE PET tubes are a suitable alternative to glass tubes.