New research at IU has found potentially harmful chemicals used in flame retardants in students’ hair, toenails and fingernails.
The chemicals, which are potentially harmful to humans according to an IU press release, can be studied further with the discovery of an easily available biomarker. According to the release, this study can determine human effects on common chemicals such as air, water and indoor dust.
Flame retardants, which can be found in plastic, foam, wood and textiles, bioaccumulate in ecosystems and human tissues, according to the release.
For their study, IU researchers collected fingernails, toenails and hair from 50 students in Bloomington. The scientists then compared chemical levels in the samples to chemical levels in blood of these same students.
Amina Salamova, a researcher in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, co-authored the study entitled “Hair and Nails as Noninvasive Biomarkers of Human Exposure to Brominated and Organophosphate Flame Retardants.”
“Little is known about the human exposure to flame retardants, especially new classes of the retardants,” Salamova said in the release. “The first step is to establish a relatively easy and reliable way of measuring chemical levels in people, especially children, and we’ve determined that hair and nails can provide exactly that.”
Researchers had previously relied on samples of human milk, blood and urine for such research, according to the release.
The IU scientists’ research showed a strong relationship between the levels of a large group of flame retardants called polybrominated diphenyl, found in hair and nails, and levels found in serum, according to the release.
In their research, the scientists found higher concentrations of flame retardants in women, possibly as a result of nail polishes containing the chemicals studied.
Flame retardant exposure has been linked to obesity, learning disabilities, neuro- and reproductive toxicity and endocrine disruption, according to the release.
Carley Lanich
