Hair Analysis for Toxic Metal Chelation

Hair Analysis Should be an Essential Part of All Chelations Many factors affect the absorption, distribution and excretion of both toxic heavy metals and essential minerals.

Hair levels of metals may give the most accurate indication of body burden and overall exposure.

Hair analysis is extremely cost effective and also gives an indication of total metal load. This is important because one frequently finds exposure to several different metals which would not be apparent from a single blood test.

In addition to toxic metals, hair analysis can provide valuable data regarding essential trace minerals in the body. This can be extremely helpful in pinpointing nutritional levels.

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For optimal chelation results it is essential to:

1) accurately assess the need for chelation

2) establish a baseline measurement of the number, type and amount of toxic metals present prior to chelation

3) determine whether trace mineral metabolism is impaired

4) monitor the progress of the chelation.

Individuals differ vastly in their ability to excrete heavy metals, monitoring of the chelation process is essential since some persons, especially those with derangement of trace mineral metabolism, may require multiple cycles of chelation†.

Hair Analysis vs. Blood and Urine Analysis Our intention was to find a biomarker that would give us the best indication of overall efficacy. We believe the best to be Total Toxic Metal Body Burden. Many others writing about chelation have published studies showing increases of a single toxin such as lead or mercury in urine and blood after being challenged by the chelator tested.

However, measurements of metals in urine and blood provide an indication of only transient changes in metal levels. Urinary levels are a reflection of how much metal is being cleared from blood by the kidneys during a relatively brief interval (hours). Blood levels tend to be transient and within hours are cleared from blood and either excreted or deposited in various tissues.

Neither urine nor blood levels provide an indication of other pathways of excretion or of reduction of total body load. While an increased urinary level of lead or mercury provides an indication that a single toxic metal is being excreted, it does not provide data regarding how many other toxic metals are present or how much residual metal is left post- chelation.

A recent study of DMSA challenge from Emory University in Atlanta revealed no correlation between past occupational exposure to mercury and mercury excretion before or after DMSA challenge.13 Furthermore, challenge studies incur a significant risk of serious side effects (see below) and also of kidney damage, particularly in older individuals. The best method for determining total toxic metal body burden would probably be some type of MRI spectroscopy. However, MRI for toxic metals has yet to be developed. The most reliable and cost effective method commercially available, as well as the safest, is hair analysis by a quality laboratory. Hair analysis is very well documented and referenced with respect to measuring body burden of heavy metals such as Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, and Arsenic.

The World Health Organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency CDC, NIH and Justice Dept. have all recommended hair analysis for determination of heavy metals. .

The EPA stated in a report "…if hair samples are properly collected and cleaned, and analyzed by the best analytic methods, using standards and blanks as required, in a clean and reliable laboratory by experienced personnel, the data are reliable." (USEPA 600/4-79-049). ). This is the information provided by Dr. Alan Greenburg on Hair Analysis edited and reprinted by his permission.

Do you need chelation? Answer the toxic metal questionnaire.