ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Trace Elements in Scalp-Hair of Students from
Four Different Environmental Contexts
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1
Northern Border University, Department of Physics, P.O. Box 1631, Arar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
2
Sudan University of Science & Technology, Department of Physics, P.O. Box 407, Khartoum,.11113, Sudan
3
Department of Medical Biosciences, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17,
Bellville, 7535, Rep. of South Africa
4
Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, PO Box.1906,
Bellville, 7535, Rep. of South Africa
Submission date: 2019-12-29
Final revision date: 2020-04-09
Acceptance date: 2020-04-09
Online publication date: 2020-08-22
Publication date: 2020-10-05
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2021;30(1):91-102
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ABSTRACT
Many individuals come into contact, at times unawares, with substances that due to concentrations
can be classified as environmental pollutants. These substances can have marked adverse health effects
on the individual when present in toxic concentration ranges. Excess accumulation of these elements can
be determined in hair since hair does not have an excretion point. To investigate any such occurrences,
scalp-hair samples were collected from male and female student volunteers (n = 183), aged between
20 and 23 years. These students were attending the Sudan University of Technology, but originated
from four regions in Sudan. Elemental concentrations were quantitatively determined by X-ray emission.
The study shows that the different inter-region and inter-gender results revealed alarming health effects
of environmental pollution.