Domestic dog hair samples as biomarkers of arsenic contamination

Hair arsenic concentrations were measured in 50 dogs living at Barrio Los Alamos, Gran Buenos Aires, Argentina, to evaluate the contamination risk in humans living in an area with arsenic levels higher than maximum allowed limit of 10 µg l−1. This region belongs to the zone in Argentina with Chronic Endemic Hydroarsenicism. Quantification of the samples was carried out using total reflection X-ray fluorescence technique after a sample preparation procedure. Independent of genre, age and breed, hair dogs from Los Alamos had significantly higher arsenic concentrations than a set of ten dogs used as blank coming from a free arsenic area. These found levels in hair indicated a chronic contamination in dogs and suggest similar presumption in humans. Results of this study encourage the potential of using pets as biomarkers of environmental metal contamination. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.