Use of domesticated rabbit tissues for monitoring of environmental pollution by toxic metals (Mn, Pb, Cr, Cd, Ni).

Domesticated rabbits were exposed to natural environmental conditions in an area polluted by emissions from a ferromanganese alloys producing plant. The samples of blood, liver, kidneys, bones, spleen, heart, muscle tissue and hair of rabbits were analyzed, after low-pressure low-temperature, ashing in RF oxygen plasma, for the presence of Mn, Pb, Cr, Cd and Ni, using the Varian Techtron AA 6-D apparatus. Groups of 3 rabbits were killed at the following time intervals: immediately after birth, and then after the exposure of 1, 2, 6 and 12 months. The levels of toxic metals detected in the examined biological samples were compared with those detected in control rabbits from non-polluted area. Contents of the analyzed toxic metals were also determined in animal feed samples as well as in samples of air (24-hour samples), drinking water and soil. The results show that the described biological monitoring might be feasibly coupled with the prepared epidemiological studies conducted in areas contaminated with toxic microelements or other persistent substances that are known to accumulate in the mammalian organism.