Trace Elements in the Hairs of Wintering Members of the 13th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition.

• Main Authors: Hiroshi Kozuka, Yukio Kanda
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: National Research Institute of Police Science 1976
• Subjects: Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica; Memoirs of National Institute of Polar Research; Polar Research
• Online Access: https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=666; http://id.nii.ac.jp/1291/00000666/; https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=666&item_no=1&attribute_id=18&file_no=1

The concentrations of six trace elements, Hg, Au, Cu, Zn, Sb and Br, in the hairs collected from 10 members of the wintering party of the 13th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (1971-1973) during their stay in Antarctica, were measured by neutron activation analysis. The mercury concentration in the hair decreased and its distribution range became narrower during one year-long stay in Antarctica. And its concentration increased and scattered over a wide range again after the party members returned to Japan. The extremely high concentration of antimony suggests that the hair was contaminated by enviromental pollution on board the icebreaker FUJI. No obvious trend was found in the concentrations of other elements during the stay in Antarctica.