A researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) has developed a diagnostic tool that uses hair to test for trace metals and other elements in the body, and says the technique could be used in place of blood tests. Kristin Gellein, a PhD student at NTNU, developed the new analytical method, which requires just one centimeter of a single hair to sift out and quantify up levels of up to 30 different trace metals. The substances found in hair mirror the substances found in the blood. And because hair grows at a rate of about a centimeter per month, the system enables a retrospective blood analysis by testing hair centimeter by centimeter. A single strand of hair becomes a kind of time machine that can be used to track trace an individual’s history of trace metal exposure. The measurement technique has potential application in occupational health and safety monitoring and forensic medicine, and also may help researchers link environmental factors and illness, according to Tore Syversen, a professor in the Department of Neuroscience at NTNU’s Faculty of Medicine. Neurologists have long suspected that there might be a connection between trace metals and neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. Go to: Science Business

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