Determination of trace elements in human nail clippings by neutron activation analysis

In this work instrumental neutron activation analysis was applied to determ ine trace elements in nail clippings and to make a comparison between the r esults obtained from samples from healthy children and those with cystic fi brosis (CF) disease. The findings indicated that fingernails from the CF gr oup present higher concentrations of Cl, Cr, K and Na than those found in t he control group. On the other hand, the lowest concentrations for Cr were found in the CF group. For the Al, As, Co, Fe, Mg, Mn, Se and Zn elements t here were no differences between the results obtained for the CF and contro l groups. The quality control of the results was evaluated by analysing NIS T 1577b Bovine Liver and NIST 1566a Oyster Tissue standard reference materi als.