Rare Earth Elements and Technology-Related Trace Metals in Paediatric Scalp Hair: A 2001 Urban Baseline from Spain.

ABSTRACT: Rare earth elements (REEs) and technology-related trace elements are increasingly used in modern products and processes, but biomonitoring data in healthy children and adolescents remain scarce; scalp hair provides a practical, integrative matrix for assessing multi-element patterns over time. Scalp hair collected in April-May 2001 from children (6-9 years; n = 120) and adolescents (13-16 years; n = 97) living in Alcalá de Henares (Spain) was retrieved from archival storage and analysed in 2025 using a single QA/QC-controlled ICP-MS workflow. Seven REEs (Ce, La, Pr, Nd, Gd, Er, and Y) and nine technology-related trace elements (Bi, Sb, Th, U, Pd, Pt, Rh, Ir, and Rb) were quantified after rigorous decontamination; left-censored data were treated using Kaplan-Meier, regression on order stati

SUBMITTER: Pena-Fernandez A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12942144 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature