Use of natural history museum ungulate specimen hair as biomarkers for environmental trace element contamination.

This study reports the first use of natural history museum ungulate specimens' (common fallow deer, bontebok, Arabian oryx, impala, Dall's sheep, water buffalo, and yak) hair as biomarkers for the determination of environmental trace element contamination and public exposure risk factor assessment. Morphological characteristics of the hair, like diameter and protein structure, were determined using optical microscopy and FTIR spectroscopy, respectively. The levels of thirty-nine (39) elements, sixteen (16) rare earth elements (REEs), and selected isotope ratios (Cr/Cr, Nd/Nd, Sm/Sm, Yb/Yb, Pb/Pb, and Pb/Pb) in the hair samples were determined by ICP-MS analysis.