The Influence of Hair Color on the Concentration Zinc
The Influence of Hair Color on the Concentration Zinc and Copper in Boys' Hair1
JOSÉ DOREA2 ANDSUELI ESSADO PEREIRA G. Nutrition Laboratory, Faculdade de Ciencias da Saude, Universidade de Brasilia, 70910 Brasilia DP, Brazil
of
ABSTRACT Head hair of 150 normal boys from Brazil ranging in age from 1 to 12 years was studied for the influence of color on concentrations of zinc and copper. Hair color was classified visually and also quantified by melanin concentra tion. Visual classification and spectrophotometric measurements of melanin showed good agreement for blond and black colors, whereas large discrepancies were ob served for intermediate colors such as light and dark brown. Hair distributed in four ranges of melanin concentration (the numerical estimate of color) showed no signif icant differences for concentration of Zn and Cu but showed a significantly higher (P < 0.01) concentration for Zn:Cu in black hair than in the other color groups. Correla tion between mineral content (Zn and Cu) and melanin was low and nonsignificant except for Zn in hair color ranging from 0-100 melanin units (r = - 0.34, P < 0.05). Discussion of these findings is presented regarding the importance of hair color change in children and estimation of mineral nutritional status. J. Nutr. 113: 2375-2381, 1983. INDEXING KEY WORDS hair color . melanin . zinc and copper
Downloaded from jn.nutrition.org by on August 26, 2010
Hair as a tool for assessment of body load of minerals has been used in human and ex perimental studies. In human nutritional studies, especially for zinc and copper, head hair has been included. Its inherent charac teristics of ease of collection and storage make it a parameter of choice in elemental (zinc and copper) studies. However, in stud ies of zinc and copper nutrition, hardly any attention has been given to the variations in hair caliber, shape and color, especially in racially heterogeneous populations. In the case of black and white human head
JOSÉ DOREA2 ANDSUELI ESSADO PEREIRA G. Nutrition Laboratory, Faculdade de Ciencias da Saude, Universidade de Brasilia, 70910 Brasilia DP, Brazil
of
ABSTRACT Head hair of 150 normal boys from Brazil ranging in age from 1 to 12 years was studied for the influence of color on concentrations of zinc and copper. Hair color was classified visually and also quantified by melanin concentra tion. Visual classification and spectrophotometric measurements of melanin showed good agreement for blond and black colors, whereas large discrepancies were ob served for intermediate colors such as light and dark brown. Hair distributed in four ranges of melanin concentration (the numerical estimate of color) showed no signif icant differences for concentration of Zn and Cu but showed a significantly higher (P < 0.01) concentration for Zn:Cu in black hair than in the other color groups. Correla tion between mineral content (Zn and Cu) and melanin was low and nonsignificant except for Zn in hair color ranging from 0-100 melanin units (r = - 0.34, P < 0.05). Discussion of these findings is presented regarding the importance of hair color change in children and estimation of mineral nutritional status. J. Nutr. 113: 2375-2381, 1983. INDEXING KEY WORDS hair color . melanin . zinc and copper
Downloaded from jn.nutrition.org by on August 26, 2010
Hair as a tool for assessment of body load of minerals has been used in human and ex perimental studies. In human nutritional studies, especially for zinc and copper, head hair has been included. Its inherent charac teristics of ease of collection and storage make it a parameter of choice in elemental (zinc and copper) studies. However, in stud ies of zinc and copper nutrition, hardly any attention has been given to the variations in hair caliber, shape and color, especially in racially heterogeneous populations. In the case of black and white human head