Human nails as a biomarker of arsenic exposure from well water in Inner Mongolia: comparing atomic fluorescence spectrometry and neutron activation analysis

Abstract Arsenic (As) is found naturally in the geological strata within the Ba Men Region of Inner Mongolia, China. A study was conducted to compare the total As measurements from two analytical techniques: instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS), and to verify nails as an exposure biomarker in this population. In 1999, nail and water samples were collected in a pilot study. Fingernails and toenails were pooled from 32 participants and analysed for total As by both INAA and AFS. Mean nail As values were 14.8±2.4 and 19.4±2.8 µg g−1 (±SEM) for INAA and AFS, respectively. Results from these two methods were significantly correlated (r=0.93, p