Eide R, Wesenberg G R
Department of Anatomy, University of Bergen, Norway.
Environ Res. 1993 May;61(2):212-22. doi: 10.1006/enrs.1993.1065.
Five groups of Wistar rats received graded concentrations of mercury vapor from 10 to 100 micrograms Hg/m3 6 hr, 5 days a week, from 4 to 11 weeks of age. One group breathing ambient air served as controls. The mercury levels of the indicators blood, hair, molars, and incisors as well as the target organs kidney cortex, cerebrum, cerebellum, liver, lung, spleen, tongue, and femur were measured by cold-vapor atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The mercury vapor had no negative influence on the weight gain of the animals. The results showed that the kidney cortex had the highest concentration of mercury. The mercury contents of all the indicators and all the target organs, with the exception of femur, were positively and significantly correlated with the exposure concentration. The rat molars had the highest correlation coefficient with the kidney mercury values, but no indicator had a significant correlation with all target organs. Rat molars are to some degree comparable to human deciduous teeth regarding time of mineralization and eruption. Based on the results presented in this study, we tentatively suggest that human deciduous teeth can be useful indicators of chronic mercury exposure not only at the exposure concentration level, but also as indicators of the mercury uptake in organs such as kidney and cerebrum.
五组Wistar大鼠在4至11周龄时，每周5天、每天6小时吸入浓度从10至100微克汞/立方米的汞蒸气。一组呼吸环境空气作为对照。通过冷原子吸收分光光度法测量血液、毛发、臼齿和门齿等指标以及肾皮质、大脑、小脑、肝脏、肺、脾脏、舌头和股骨等靶器官中的汞含量。汞蒸气对动物体重增加没有负面影响。结果表明，肾皮质中的汞浓度最高。除股骨外，所有指标和所有靶器官的汞含量与暴露浓度呈正相关且具有显著相关性。大鼠臼齿与肾脏汞值的相关系数最高，但没有任何指标与所有靶器官都具有显著相关性。大鼠臼齿在矿化和萌出时间方面在一定程度上与人类乳牙相当。基于本研究的结果，我们初步认为，人类乳牙不仅可以作为慢性汞暴露浓度水平的有用指标，还可以作为肾脏和大脑等器官汞摄取情况的指标。
