Journal of Clinical Toxicology
Open Access

Abstract

Correlation of Four Toxic Elements Concentrations in Hair and Follicular Fluid Collected from Women Undergoing in vitro Fertilization

Pedro García-Fortea, Isaac Cohen-Corcia, Alberto Reche-Rosado and Ernesto González-Mesa

We assess the correlation between four trace elements concentrations (As, Cd, Hg, Pb) in hair and follicular fluid (FF) specimens collected from 205 women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF), and analysed using high resolution inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer. We find that hair arsenic concentration was positively correlated with FF arsenic, mercury and lead concentrations. We conclude that trace element determination in hair specimens would be of interest to clarify their effect on outcomes of women undergoing IVF in a prospective cohort study.