[Contemporary problems of exposure to lead with special consideration to the situation in Poland].

The paper describes sources of lead emission and problems connected with determination of lead exposition in regions of ecological danger and at the workplace. Toxic effects which accompany elevated blood lead levels on human organism, with an emphasis on lead action in children, were discussed. national and WHO recommendations to population either environmentally or occupationally exposed to lead were presented.

[Thyroid function in smelters after long-term exposure to heavy metals].

In the year 1995 in a group of 93 male workers of a copper smelter (mean age = 40,7 years, exposure time = 8,5 years) following parameters were measured: blood levels of: lead and cadmium; serum levels of copper, zinc, calcium and magnesium-with use of atomic absorption spectrophotometry; FEP-with Piomelli's method; and T3, T4 and TSH in serum with radioimmunometric method. Mean blood lead level was 38,2 micrograms/dl, and concentrations of other metals and hormones were within norm limits. Mean level of FEP was slightly above norm (FEP = 106,5 micrograms/100 ml E).

[Blood lipid parameters in smelters chronically exposed to heavy metals].

A group of 120 male workers, employed in copperworks (mean age = 41.5 years; mean exposure duration = 17,9 years) at workposts with the highest level of exposure to lead, were covered by the study. Blood levels of the following heavy metals were measured in all workers: Pb, Cd, Mn, Cu, Zn, Ca, Mg as well as concentrations of FEP and GSH, SOD activity in erythrocytes, parameters of lipid metabolism: total cholesterol, HDL2- HDL3-cholesterol, triglycerides, lipid peroxides (LPO), and lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) activity.

The effect of combined exposure to lead and cadmium on the concentration of zinc and copper in rat tissues.

To learn whether a combined exposure to lead and copper provokes disturbances in essential trace elements homeostasis the distribution of zinc and copper in tissues (blood, liver, kidney, heart and brain) after combined and single exposure to lead and/or cadmium was compared. In the same regimen, single or combined exposure accumulation of cadmium and lead in tissues was also measured. Experiments were performed on male Buffalo rats, 5-6 weeks old.

The effect of combined exposure to lead and cadmium on serum lipids and lipid peroxides level in rats.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of the combined exposure to lead and cadmium on serum lipids and lipid peroxides level in rats and to compare the obtained results with the effects of a single metal. Experiments were performed on male Buffalo rats which were intragastrically administered of lead acetate in doses of 70 mg Pb/kg body wt. twice a week and/or cadmium chloride in doses of 20 mg Cd/kg body wt.