The spatial distribution of trace elements in hair is highly heterogeneous at the microscale. The relatively mild spatial variation of endogenous signal incorporated during hair growth may be amplified by orders of magnitude due to later exogenous contaminations. Here, we studied the longitudinal and transverse distributions of trace elements in elephant and giraffe hair and discussed the possible endogenous and exogenous contributions. Laser ablation ICP-MS analyses were performed on cross sections of hair to assess the surface contamination and transverse variation. We also removed the contaminated surface layer at various distances from hair root of single hair strands using physical abrasion and measured the concentrations by microwave digestion followed by ICP-MS. By comparing the concentrations of 11 trace elements between the intact and abraded hair segments as a function of distance from root and their laser ablation profiles, we rationalized the endogenous and exogenous contributions: Al and Ti concentrations are dominated by the exogenous contamination on the elephant hair surface, probably in the form of insoluble particles, but not in the giraffe hair; Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, and Mn are enhanced on the elephant hair surface by exogenous contaminations, but a comparable amount was found in the hair interior suggesting migration of these elements from the surface towards the core; Cu, Zn, Se, and Pb did not have surface accumulation and thus were dominated by the endogenous signal. Overall, giraffe hair had minimal surficial contamination, suggesting the origin of its trace elements is predominantly endogenous, except for Mn, which might get contaminated with airborne particles. We thus demonstrate that contamination of hair may be strongly related to behavioral traits and that the interpretation of trace elemental analyses in hair as a biomonitor or for provenance studies would be highly dependent on the species considered.
Keywords: Elephant; Endogenous; Exogenous; Giraffe; Hair; Trace elements.