This paper is conducted to compare the contents of heavy metal in the hair of elementary school children in urban area regarded as industrial zone with high degree of exposure to heavy metal and those of chidren in unpolluted zone,
islands area. The contents of Pb, Zn Cd, Cu and Fe in the hair of 129 children in Ul-san and 126 childern in Nam-hae were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry.
The mean contents of Pb(9.154±2.734ppm) of the children in urban was significantly higher(p<0.05) than those of islands area(8.473±1.283ppm). Cd were respectively 0.387±0.074ppm, 0.362±0.050ppm, Zm were 184±54.4ppm,
166.5±36.1ppm
respectively, and Cu and Fe were almost same.
In the contents of heavy metal by age. Cd. Zn contents were significant difference(P<0.01, respectively): Cd was decrease with aging in both urban and islands area, and Zn was also decrease in island but conversively increase in urban,
whereas there was no significant difference in Pb, Cu, and Fe.
In regard to sex, in urban area, female had much more contents than male in all heavy metal, while in islands area female did only in Zn, Cu. In male group, urban children were higher in Zn contents and islands children, higher in Fe contents,
and in
famale group, all the metals Pb, Cd. Zn, Cu, were higher in urban area.
In terms of I. QI.(intelligence quotient), the lower it was, the more contents of Pb and Cd they had, but the difference was not statistically significant.
The frequency of washing hair or the kinds of detergents had no relationship with the contents of heavy metal irrespective of urban and islands area.
With sex excluded, multiple regression result about the factors contributing to the contents of levels heavy metals showed that residence was the most influential factor.
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