Industrial lead contamination of an Illinois wildlife refuge and indigenous small mammals.

Deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) were trapped from a sand prairie at various distances from an adjacent battery lead reclamation plant. Analysis of liver, kidney, and bone for lead concentrations showed an increase of tissue lead concentrations over controls to a distance of approximately 400 m. Soil and plant lead concentrations roughly correlated with the findings in deer mouse tissues. At higher tissue lead concentrations, acid-fast staining intranuclear inclusions within renal tubular epithelial cells were an occasional finding.