The Sampler (October 2020) - AIHA BC-Yukon Local Section

October 2020

SEPTEMBER

MEETING RECAP

Non-Invasive Tools to Monitor Human Exposure to Heavy Metals

Presented by Dr. Jennie Christensen, PhD, RPBio

In September, Dr. Jennie Christensen, Founder of TrichAnalytics, took us on a journey back in time to the 1845 Franklin Expedition through the Northwest Passage. Dr. Christensen set the scene in 1946, when one of the first crew from the Franklin Expedition died and was buried on Beechey Island. Based on bulk sampling by scientists of the soft tissues, it was presumed that John Hartnell and some of the other men on the expedition died from lead poisoning likely from consuming contaminated food stored in tin cans, but Dr. Christensen's analysis tells us otherwise. After obtaining samples of John Hartnell's nail and hair samples Dr. Christensen conducted Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) on a toenail sample. Based on the analysis, Dr. Christensen was able to show us a timeline of John Hartnell's health from the point of which he left for the expedition to the time of his death. The analysis showed that John's health had declined in the winter of 1845 when he caught tuberculosis. Dr. Christensen explained that as tuberculosis causes loss of appetite, it was likely that John lost huge amount of body mass and that his bones started breaking down causing historical lead stored in the bones to enter his blood stream and into the soft tissues. Additional analysis also found that John Hartnell had very low levels of zinc which may have contributed to his illness and ultimately lead to his death.

From this research, Dr. Christensen thought about how the LA-ICP-MS technology can be applied to current day monitoring of toxic metal exposures. She explained the challenges of blood monitoring (i.e., painful, potential for infection, nurse requirement, preservation / shipping and handling issues) and how hair and nails could be good candidates for a screening tool. Hair and nails are growing tissue and can record chronological health information. The collection of the samples can be non-invasive / non-painful, and can be collected very frequently with no risk of infection or special preservation / shipping and handling requirements. Dr. Christensen then proceeded to explain that for hair samples, the exposed part of the hair only provides an approximation of a person’s exposure to the environment and are prone to external contamination, but the hair below the scalp provides a significant correlation to the blood lead levels. However, there is still a potential for hair below the scalp to be contaminated from external factors such as hair products. Overall, the use of hair and nails can provide a non-invasive alternative to blood tests when it comes to screening for toxic metal exposures. Thank you Dr. Christensen for this informative and interesting presentation.

NEW WEBSITE IS HERE!

AIHA BC-Yukon has officially launched the newly designed and improved website. The overhaul to the website has provided some key updates listed below, in addition to some other smaller updates:

New hosting service to prevent security certificate check failure;
New and easier user interface;
Improved membership management module;
Improved membership historical event and membership tracking;
Improved event registration, allowance of multiple individuals to be registered by a single individual;
Improved payment options (credit card and offline payment);
Also allow credit card automatic renewals or one-time payment for membership; and
Secure member and open to public voting/survey.

With the new launch, some of the content from the older website will need to be migrated over. Unfortunately, due to different format of modules utilized, the migration will be a manual process. The Webmaster will be carrying out the migration over the next 2 months to ensure all records are properly transferred over. If you are a member and require your historical records immediately, please e-mail info@aihabc.org.

For existing active members, you will have received an e-mail informing you to reset your account password by accessing the website at www.aihabc.org. If the website indicates your e-mail does not exist in the system, it may be another e-mail address was previously used which the webmaster has uploaded as the account. If this is the case, please e-mail info@aihabc.org so we can change the e-mail associated with your account. Once you have access, you can also update your account information. Click here for a tutorial on how to log on to the new website and reset your password.

For members who have let their membership lapsed, please feel free to register a new account. New account registrations will automatically notify the Webmaster who will consolidate any existing old records to the new account.

Lastly, the website will be updated every third Sunday of each month for small or big updates for improvement. Depending on the style of update, the website may not be accessible during this time. This is to ensure the website is kept up to date for members.

We hope the newly refreshed website will provide members better access to everything AIHA BC-Yukon has to offer.