Abstract
Cadmium and mercury are widespread and non-biodegradable pollutants of great concern to human and animal health. In this study, the influence of exposure to low doses of cadmium and mercury on Wistar rats was investigated. The experiments aimed to identify suitable markers of chronic intoxication with heavy metals in rats. The subjects were 48 naive young rats (24 females and 24 males), four weeks old, grouped randomly into three distinct groups—control group, group exposed to cadmium and group exposed to mercury. The control group received sham treatment—clean untreated water. Cd exposed group received water containing cadmium chloride dihydrate and Hg exposed group received water with mercury dichloride. Both cadmium and mercury were administered to experimental rats in drinking water in concentrations exceeding the maximum acceptable concentration of these metals 500 times, i.e., 0.5 mg Hg and 2.5 mg Cd per liter of water. The results were evaluated quarterly during the experiment (52 weeks). Selected physiological parameters (life span, body weight changes and intake of food and water), reproductive parameters (number of births (litters), number of born pups and number of raised pups) and toxicological parameters (average daily dose, total dose received and the amount of toxic metal received) were studied. The results of the experiments indicate differences between both individual groups and between males and females, which confirmed that these parameters are essential in such experiments of chronic exposure to subtoxic doses of heavy metals.
Highlights
Heavy metals naturally occur in the environment, but anthropogenic activities can increase the background levels in the environment, raising scientific and public health concerns for human health.Heavy metals can be associated with an unprecedented expansion of chemicals in industrial and agricultural production that causes an increase in the concentration of toxic substances in the environment [1]
The aim of the study was to demonstrate the effect of low doses of cadmium and mercury administered to Wistar rats in drinking water at subtoxic concentrations on selected physiological, reproductive and toxicological parameters as possible markers of exposure of chronic intoxication by heavy metals in doses higher than the maximum permissible concentration (MPC)
Heavy metals were administered to Wistar rats in drinking water at concentrations of 0.5 mg·L−1 for Hg and 2.5 mg·L−1 for Cd, which are 500 times higher than MPC
Summary
Heavy metals naturally occur in the environment, but anthropogenic activities can increase the background levels in the environment, raising scientific and public health concerns for human health. Heavy metals can be associated with an unprecedented expansion of chemicals in industrial and agricultural production that causes an increase in the concentration of toxic substances in the environment [1]. German pharmacologists first described the effect of very low doses of toxic substances as a Schulz-Arndt’s Law, and, since this phenomenon has become an important part of toxicology. At present, this phenomenon is known as “hormesis” or hormesis effect.
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