Estimation of hair arsenic levels in Bangladeshi population: Influence of demographic factors on arsenic accumulation in human

This study was conducted to investigate the relationships between arsenic (As ) levels in human hair and demographics of Banglish village in the Comilla district of Bangladesh. Two hundred ninety nine subject´s hair samples were analyzed using the Proton Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) method. There were 213-female and 86-male subjects. Surprisingly, high levels of As concentrations were found in the hair samples, for those living near safe drinking water, irrespective of their age and sex while female hair As levels was significantly higher than those of males. Unlike the groups living on safe drinking water, no significant difference was found in hair As levels between sexes in non-safe drinking water areas. Health status showed that, 64% of the males and 47% females were patients. Toxic levels of As were found in many food-stuffs, such as fresh vegetables and fish. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that As accumulation in the hair is dependent not only on water contamination, but also food contamination as well.