Correlation of zinc concentrations in human plasma and hair

Abstract

Hair and plasma zinc concentrations were determined by atomic absorption spectrophometry during October 1968 in 75 Iraian children aged 6 to 12 years. Plasma zinc was 72 ± 12 γg/100 ml (X ± sd). This was significantly lower than that found in 26 American children aged 3 to 13 years (P < 0.001) (1). The mean hair zinc content (199 ± 22 ppm) reported here is significantly greater (P < 0.001) than the 163 ± 22 ppm (X ± se) reported by Eminians et al. (10) for their Iranian village control males of a similar age group. The correlation coefficient between the zinc content of paired plasma and hair samples has an absolute value of 0.05 and is not statistically significant (P > 0.50). These data do not support the suggestion that the zinc content of hair is a reliable indicator of body zinc stores in prepubescent children.