Comparisons in the Toxicities of Various Inorganic Salts like Copper Sulphate, Cadmium Sulphate & Lead Acetate on the Various Organs of Adult Female Rats (Rattus Norvegicus) Dhir Vaneet, Assistant Professor, Gupta SK, Associate Professor Selection Grade, Post Graduate Department of Chemistry, GHG Khalsa College, Gurusar Sadhar, Ludhiana, 141104, India Abstract Heavy metal toxicity is a serious worldwide problem which adversely affects the growth, health, reproductive performance and life span of all living organisms. In my previous work1–2 I (Dhir) worked on the physicochemical interactions in between the biomolecules (eccrine) with series of cations and also studied the importance of hydrophobic character of big biomolecules. Therefore; in this project I studied the effect of toxic cations like Cu2+, Pb2+ & Cd2+ on the various biological aspects. Copper (copper sulphate), Leads (lead acetate) and cadmium(cadmium sulphate) being a toxic cumulative poison and an environmental pollutant, experiments were conducted at an oral chronic dose of (60 mg/kg/day) for 90 days on adult female rats (Rattus Norvegicus) and its effect on the reproductive functions in relation to the biochemical effects was studied. It was observed that the chronic dose of copper, lead & cadmium caused an elevation in the level of proteins, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase in all the soft tissues studied indicating tissue damage, whereas it was observed be me the effects were received in the following order: Cu2+ > Pb2+ > Cd2+ (in terms of toxicity) However no literature was available so far as to compare the toxicity level of copper, cadmium with lead (because the cadmium ions or compounds are available in trace amount but I cannot rule out the possibility of cadmium pollution). Therefore it is necessary to compare copper and lead with cadmium. But the effect of lead is more important as compared to cadmium and copper because lead is released in our environment as the major pollutant. Like lead, copper and cadmium also inhibited the level of acetylcholinesterase in all the tissues. Fertility tests by pairing treated females with males showed that lead and cadmium treated female showed irregular oestrous cycle and the fertility rate dropped to 35% (in case of copper), 40%(in case of lead) and 50% (in case of cadmium) as female pups of lead treated mothers showed loss in weight, high mortality rate, poor growth rate and late vaginal opening. Histological studies of ovary showed atresia (figures 1–4) in all the stages of folliculogenesis sustaining the poor fertility observations. Since the absorption of lead indicated toxicity in humans is great due to the intake through food, air, and water, it became imperative to carry out a systematic study on the effect of chronic oral dose of lead on female reproductive functions and also to record the various enzymatic changes in rats. These findings would be useful in understanding the various effects on sensitive species and also extrapolating, with care the results for humans. Top |