Domestic canine hair as biomarkers for environmental monitoring of arsenic.

VÁZQUEZ, C.; PALACIOS, O.; PÉREZ CARRERA, A.; CASTRO, M.; ANDREANO, V.; BOEYKENS, S.; PARRA, L.

Viena

Workshop; Second Research Co-ordination Meeting (RCM) of the Co-ordinated Research Project (CRP) on Micro-analytical Techniques Based on Nuclear Spectrometry for Environmental Monitoring and Material Studies.; 2011

International Atomic Energy Agency

Hair arsenic concentrations were measured in 25 dogs living at Barrio Los Alamos, Gran Buenos Aires, Argentina in order to evaluate the contamination risk in humans living in an area with arsenic levels higher than maximum allowed limit of 10 µgL-1.  Quantification of the samples was done using total reflection X ray fluorescence technique after a sample preparation procedure. Independently of genre, age and breed, hair dogs from Los Alamos had significantly higher arsenic concentrations than a set of 10 dogs used as blank coming from a free arsenic area. These found levels in hair indicated a chronic contamination in dogs and suggest similar presumption in humans. Results of this study encourage the potential of using pets as biomarkers of environmental metal contamination.