The concentrations of trace metals in hair of fishermen from the Persian Gulf region were assessed to

detect the relationships between element levels in hair and potential factors influencing these relationships.

The hair of 19 fishermen were sampled from six stations in the Persian Gulf (

Nirogah, Dayyer, Lengeh and Bandar Abbas in Khuzestan, Bushehr and Hormozgan provinces

analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry inductively (ICP-MS) and Cold Vapor

Atomic Absorption Spectrometer to detect the trace metals and mercury levels, respectively.

In this study we did not find significant correlation between fish diet and hair element levels, except for

mercury (r=0.74, P=0.01). Our results demonstrated that the average concentrations of Cr, As and V in

different stations were almost comparable, while the accumulation of Cu, Zn, Pb and Co in hair samples

from Lengeh were much higher than those of other regions. Statistical analysis demonstrated that a

positivly strong significant correlation (p<0.05) existed between V, Cr, Co, Cu and Zn concentrations in

the human hair, which might have been originated from similar sources. The accumulation levels of Cd,

Cu and Cr in our results were much lower than the corresponding accepted levels. The hair samples

contained arsenic in high concentrations, as against arsenic level in normal healthy hair. Ninty percent of