This work was to make use of the Chongming island as a high prevalence area of liver cancer and its uneven geographical distribution to study the relation between trace elements and high liver cancer incidence. Fe

Pb

Sr

Mn

Ti

Mo

Zn

Cu and Se contents in scalp hair of healthy adults from the areas with lower and higher cancer mortality respectively were determined and 100 pairs of case-control investigation was made. The selenium hair content of healthy adult on the island is in the range of 0.222-0.378 ppm. The average is about 0.309 ppm. This is lower compared with other places in China

wnich might indicate a selenium deficiency

one of the risk factors responsible for liver. cancer. The Mn

Fe and Mo hair content showed a geographical differences significantly and had a negative correlation with liver cancer Mortality. Results of the case-control study indicate Mn and Fe hair content from liver cancer patients were significantly lower than normals.