Hair as a retrospective calendar of cortisol production—Increased cortisol incorporation into hair in the third trimester of pregnancy

Hair has long been used in toxicology, forensic science, doping control and other fields as a biological specimen for the detection of environmental agents, drugs, or toxins. Most recent evidence suggests that also hormones are incorporated and trapped inside the growing hair. This has led to the hypothesis that cortisol measurement of distinct hair segments could provide a retrospective calendar of cortisol production for the individual. In...