The total content of toxic elements in horsehair given the level of essential elements.

Elemental status of 214 mares aged 3-7 years from 11 breeds was studied: Arabian purebred (n = 20), Bashkir (n = 20), Kabarda (n = 20), Vyatka (n = 20), Tuva (n = 19), Yakutsk (n = 30), Mezenskaya (n = 20), Thoroughbred (n = 20), Akhal-Teke (n = 20), Russian trotter (n = 15), Soviet Heavy Draft (n = 10) bred in 13 regions of Russia. The research objective is to study the content of chemical elements in hair from the horse's mane, depending on the sum of toxic elements in animal hair expressed in moles. The elemental composition of the hair was defined by atomic emission and mass spectrometry (AES and MS). Elemental composition of biosubstrates was studied by 25 indicators (Al, As, B, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, I, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, Se, Si, Sn, Hg, Sr, V, Zn). In the studies, an estimate of the total toxic load of the horse's body (∑tox) was given as the sum of mmoles of Al, Cd, Pb, Sn, Hg, and Sr in horsehair. Based on ∑tox percentile calculations, animals were divided into three groups up to 25 percentile (n = 54) with concentrations up to 1.09 mmol/kg, within the 25 and 75 percentile limits (n = 105) and over 75 percentile (n = 55) with a concentration above 6.08 mmol/kg. As follows from the obtained results, the ∑tox indicator in the mane's hair is closely connected with the total hair mineralization. For the studied range of ∑tox values, the relationship of this indicator with 13 essential and conditionally essential chemical elements is described. Moreover, as ∑tox increases, it indicates an increase in the concentration of eleven (Ca, P, Co, Cr, Fe, I, Mn, Li, Ni, V, As) and a decrease of two elements in hair (B, Si); for six elements (K, Mg, Na, Cu, Zn, Sn), such a connection was not revealed. At ∑tox values higher than 75 percentile, a critical increase in the exchange pools of two or more toxic elements in the body was observed in 85% of cases. Intensive exchange of selenium and iodine is observed; it is expressed by an increase in the number of animals with the content of these elements in hair beyond the "physiological standard," estimated as the range of 25-75 percentile.