ABSTRACT
Wood dust is a by-product of wood processing or wood handling, and the sizes of wood dust particles depends on the activity from which they are generated. Heavy metals are defined as elements of high relative atomic mass. Some heavy metals such as zinc, copper, manganese, cobalt and selenium are essential trace elements and they play important roles in biological processes such as protection against oxidative damage in cellular respiration, genomic stability, immunity, apoptosis and cell signalling. Exposures to high levels of heavy metals have been shown to be associated with acute poisoning and chronic diseases such as cancers. The lungs are a pair of primary organs of respiration, present in the thoracic cavity beside the mediastinum. The respiratory portion helps in the exchange of gases and oxygenation of the blood. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of wood dust on Serum heavy metals levels and Histology of the lungs in male wistar adult rat lungs. This research was conducted in Benin City, Edo State at the animal house of the Department of Anatomy, University of Benin and Furniture Workshop, Dept. of Maintenance, university of Benin teaching hospital, Benin city. Twenty-four (24) adult male wistar albino rats (Rattus norvegicus) weighing between 157-226g were used for this study. were randomly grouped into two groups, each group consisting of twelve animals (n=12): Control Group (Group A) and the Exposed group (Group B) and acclimatization lasted for two (2) weeks. During sacrifice, the final weights of the rats were taken using compact electric weighing machine scale, after taking their final weights, the rats were put into an enclosed container with cotton wool soaked with about 50ml of chloroform for anesthesia. After anesthetizing, the rats were placed on a dissecting table on a supine position. Thereafter, the blood sample was collected from the inferior vena cava using 5ml syringes after abdominal incision was made and transferred into EDTA bottles for serum heavy metals assay and the lungs were collected and was place into a plain container containing 10% formalin. Data were analyzed using the graph pad prism statistical software 8.1. Differences between groups were assessed using one-way ANOVA. Data were presented as mean ± SEM. P<0.05 were considered to indicate a statistically significant difference. Results show that there was a significant increase <0.05 in serum nickel and lead concentration but no significant increase in serum copper concentration while the histological examination showed bronchiolar hemorrhage, interstitial infiltrates of inflammatory cells and foreign body giant cell, vascular stenosis, interstitial hemorrhage. Conclusively, it can be deduced from the study that wood dust has effect on serum heavy metals by causing an elevation in their concentrations evidenced by the bronchiolar and intestinal hemorrhage, vascular stenosis and infiltration of inflammatory cells of the lungs.
