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LU

Emma Hammarlund

Research team manager

LU

Mapping the chemistry of hair strands by mass spectrometry imaging-a review

Author

  • Mai H. Philipsen
  • Emma R. Haxen
  • Auraya Manaprasertsak
  • Per Malmberg
  • Emma U. Hammarlund

Summary, in English

Hair can record chemical information reflecting our living conditions, and, therefore, strands of hair have become a potent analytical target within the biological and forensic sciences. While early efforts focused on analyzing complete hair strands in bulk, high spatial resolution mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) has recently come to the forefront of chemical hair-strand analysis. MSI techniques offer a localized analysis, requiring fewer de-contamination procedures per default and making it possible to map the distribution of analytes on and within individual hair strands. Applying the techniques to hair samples has proven particularly useful in investigations quantifying the exposure to, and uptake of, toxins or drugs. Overall, MSI, combined with optimized sample preparation protocols, has improved precision and accuracy for identifying several elemental and molecular species in single strands of hair. Here, we review different sample preparation protocols and use cases with a view to make the methodology more accessible to researchers outside of the field of forensic science. We conclude that-although some challenges remain, including contamination issues and matrix effects-MSI offers unique opportunities for obtaining highly resolved spatial information of several compounds simultaneously across hair surfaces.

Department/s

  • StemTherapy: National Initiative on Stem Cells for Regenerative Therapy
  • Molecular Evolution
  • Division of Translational Cancer Research
  • LUCC: Lund University Cancer Centre
  • EpiHealth: Epidemiology for Health

Publishing year

2021-12-01

Language

English

Publication/Series

Molecules

Volume

26

Issue

24

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

MDPI AG

Topic

  • Analytical Chemistry

Keywords

  • Hair analysis
  • Mass spectrometry imaging
  • Sample preparation

Status

Published

Research group

  • Molecular Evolution

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1420-3049