Manganese Concentrations In Hair and Fingernail of Some Kano Inhabitants

Manganese concentrations in hair and fingernails were determined by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS).The mean manganese in hair and fingernail were 0.54 ± 0.35mg/g and 0.68 ± 0.30mg/g respectively. A progressive decrease in manganese concentrations in hair and fingernails with age indicated no significant difference in their means suggesting that manganese in hair and fingernails originate from a common source. Comparing the mean manganese concentrations in hair with the fingernails a significant difference is indicated in the two tissues (p≤0.05). Human hair and fingernails are therefore recording filaments that can reflect metabolic changes of many elements over long periods of time and hence furnish an imprint of post nutritional event as dietary levels of essential micro-elements.