This project made use of Chongming Island, a high prevalence area for liver cancer, with an uneven geographical distribution, to study the relation between trace elements and high liver cancer incidence. A comparative study of Se, Mn, Fe, Sr, Pb, Zn, Cu and Ca contents of scalp hair of normal persons living in areas with different incidences of liver cancer, and a case-control investigation matched with sex and age were made. The selenium level is relatively low compared with other locations in China, which might indicate Se deficiency on the island. Iron and Mn show an obvious difference, indicating that the availability of these elements was less in the high cancer incidence part of the island than in the low incidence part. The hair iron content of patients with liver cancer is clearly lower than that of normal controls. Selenium, Mn and Fe should be taken into consideration in liver cancer prevention research.