1. Influence of lead acetate on the histological, ultrastructural and histochemical picture of the livers of albino rats.
- Author
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Radwańska-Konarzewska U, Woźniak F, and Siezieniewska Z
- Subjects
- Animals, Cell Nucleus ultrastructure, Cytoplasm ultrastructure, Endoplasmic Reticulum ultrastructure, Granuloma pathology, Macrophages ultrastructure, Microscopy, Electron, Rats, Rats, Wistar, Lead toxicity, Liver drug effects, Liver ultrastructure, Organometallic Compounds toxicity
- Abstract
The amount of lead pollution in the environment is increasing proportionally to the development of industry. Lead is capable of damaging the organism in many ways due to its high affinity to various tissues, different enzymes and serum proteins and its tendency to cumulate (1, 14). Acute lead poisoning occurs in people who have had intense, but short-term contact with organic lead compounds (tetraethylolead) used as an antidetonant in motor fuels, or plumbous orthoplumbate (red lead), which is an important component in anticorrosive paints (4, 6). Chronic poisoning by lead and lead salts, which used to occur in printers and workers in battery factories, is now a threat to the whole human population because of the hundreds of thousands of tons of tetraethylolead used as a fuel additive. This substance pollutes not only the atmosphere, but also the soil and the water and because of this, the food (10). The toxic effects of lead on the central and peripheral nervous system and the hematopoetic system is well known (9, 12), Less clear, however, are the toxic effects of this metal on the liver. As of now, there are still different views on the existence of negative effects of lead on the livers of people and animals exposed to this metal. Some researchers found no changes in the liver in cases of long-term contact with lead (3).
- Published
- 1993