Damage to the liver, kidney, and testis with reference to burden of heavy metals in yellow-necked mice from areas around steelworks and zinc smelters in Poland

• Published in: Toxicology (Amsterdam) Vol. 186; no. 1; pp. 1 - 10
• Main Authors: Damek-Poprawa, Monika, Sawicka-Kapusta, Katarzyna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier Ireland Ltd 15-04-2003; Amsterdam Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on vertebrates; Environmental Pollution - adverse effects; Femur - metabolism; Femur - pathology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Heavy metals; Histocytochemistry; Histopathology; Kidney - drug effects; Kidney - metabolism; Kidney - pathology; Liver - drug effects; Liver - metabolism; Liver - pathology; Male; Mammalia; Metallurgy; Metals, Heavy - pharmacokinetics; Metals, Heavy - toxicity; Mice; Poland; Statistics, Nonparametric; Terrestrial environment, soil, air; Testis - drug effects; Testis - metabolism; Testis - pathology; Yellow-necked mice; Poland; Europe; Yellow-necked mice; Heavy metals; Histopathology; Digestive system; Toxicity; Liver; Rodentia; Apodemus flavicollis; Soil pollution; Testicle; Male genital system; Pollutant emission; Kidney; Zinc; Heavy metal; Foundry industry; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Urinary system; Muridae
• ISSN: 0300-483X; 1879-3185
• DOI: 10.1016/S0300-483X(02)00595-4

The influence of the steelworks in Warsaw and Krakow as well as the zinc smelters in Bukowno and Miasteczko Slaskie on lead, cadmium, zinc and iron concentrations and the structure of selected tissues of yellow-necked mice were analysed. The Borecka Forest was chosen as a control area. The highest concentrations of lead, 172.36 g/g dry weight, and cadmium, 23.58 g/g, were detected in the femurs and kidneys, respectively, of rodents caught in Bukowno. Zinc and iron concentrations ranged over physiological values. No histopathological changes were observed in analysed tissues of all rodents in the control area. Damage occurred in the liver and kidneys of animals from all other sites and in the testes of rodents from Bukowno. Decreased glycogen content, interstitial fibrosis, and increased number of pyknotic nuclei as well as necrosis were seen in hepatocytes. In the kidneys hyperplasia of the tubules, atrophy of glomeruli, interstitial fibrosis and necrosis were observed. Degenerate cells were present in the lumen of seminiferous tubules of animals from the Bukowno area. Even relatively low concentrations of lead and cadmium, like those found in the liver and kidneys of rodents from the neighbourhood of the steelworks, caused histopathological changes.