[Influence of smoking on selected microelements in serum and hair of adults].
The aim of this study was to assess the concentrations of iron, zinc and copper in serum and hair of smokers and nonsmokers. The study population comprised 162 subjects aged 30-60 years, in this 47 smokers and 115 non smokers. All subjects had their blood and hair samples collected for analysis. Content of the analysed microelements was assayed with atomic spectrophotometry using Zeiss AAS-3 spectrophotometer. Statistical analysis was done with Statistica 6.0. The results showed that smokers had significantly lower concentration of copper in serum than non smokers. The analysis of molar ratio of minerals in serum showed significantly lower ratio of zinc to copper in smokers as compared to non smokers. The content of minerals in hair of both groups was insignificant. Based on the obtained results it is justified to conclude that smoking can influence on copper metabolism in organism.