TRACE-ELEMENT CONCENTRATIONS IN HAIR OF SUBJECTS FROM 2 SOUTH-PACIFICISLANDS, ATAFU (TOKELAU) AND KITAVA (PAPUA-NEW-GUINEA)

The concentrations of trace elements in hair were measured in 108 heal thy subjects (60 males and 48 females, mean age 46-years) resident on Atafu (Tokelau) and in 83 subjects (63 males and 20 females, mean age 26-years) living on Kitava island (Papua New Guinea). On Kitava, a tra ditional subsistence lifestyle uninfluenced by Western dietary habits is still maintained, but on Atafu the dietary habits have been modifie d by the inclusion of such imported foods as rice, flour, sugar and ca nned meat and fish. The concentrations of zinc and magnesium in hair w ere significantly higher in the Kitava than in the Atafu subjects, whe reas those of copper were similar in both groups, and those of seleniu m, mercury, lead and cadmium were higher in Atafu subjects. The levels of serum copper, magnesium and selenium concentrations in Kitava subj ects were not so low as to indicate any trace element deficiency. The higher hair content of mercury, lead and cadmium found among Atafu sub jects might be due to consumption of marine foods contaminated with me tals, consumption of canned foods, or frequent cigarette smoking, thou gh it is difficult to single out any specific factor.