Abstract

In order to study the effect of lead exposure on the hematocrit and hemoglobin values in accordance with the level of lead exposure, twenty-four Sprague-Dawly rates were equally divided into four groups of six tars each. Lead acetate disolved in glucose was injected intrapertitoneally six times a week, for weeks with does of 0.05 mg/kg/day for group I, 0.5 mg/kg/day for group II, and 5 mg/kg/day for group III. Control group was injected glucose only. Blood samples for the checking of the hematocrit and hemoglobin values, were taking from tail vein of rats before lead injection and on the third, seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first, and twenty-eighth days after lead injection. And also, the concentration of lead and ALA in urine were checked for evaluating the lead absorption. The results were as follows ; 1. The alteration of the hematocrit and hemoglobin values of the group I was not significant as that of the control group. 2. In group II, the hematocrit values were significantly decreased from the fourteenth day after lead injection, and the hemoglobin values were decreased from the twenty- first day after lead injection when the concentration of lead in urine was elevated more than 260 microgram/liter. 3. In group III, the hematocrit value were decreased from the seventh day after lead injection, and the hemoglobin value were decreased even from third day after lead injection. And the hemoglobin values were more rapidly decreased than the hematocrit values. 4. In all group, the correlation coefficient between hematocrit and hemoglobin was highly significant. And the difference between the correlation coefficient of the group III and that of the others was highly significant.