Objectives: The present study is a pilot project for the Finnish AMAP (Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme/Human Health) investigations. We examined the exposure of northern Finns to chromium (Cr), because analyses of this metal are not included in the AMAP, and local industry and industry throughout the Kola Peninsula may increase chromium fallout in Finnish Lapland. Chromium exposure and its temporal trend were estimated by analyzing hair of northern Finns collected in 1982 and 1991.
Methods: After washing the hair samples, chromium analyses were carried out in 1995 by a method developed by Salmela et al. (1981) and Kumpulainen et al. (1982). The Perkin-Elmer 5000 atomic absorption spectrometer used was equipped with a graphite furnace (HGA-400).
Results: Age showed no statistically significant correlation with Cr concentration in hair, but the hair concentration of Cr in men was higher than that in women, both among southern and northern Finns and Sami.
Conclusions: Chromium levels in the hair of Finns and Sami were too low to result in any health hazard, however, exposure to chromium may have slightly increased during the 1990s.