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Background: It is estimated that over 80% of respirable particulate matter (PM 10 ) in cities comes from road transport and that tire and brake wear are responsible for the 3-7% emission of it. Data on the indicators of environmental impact of tire debris (TD), originated from the tire abrasion on roads, are extremely scarce, even though TD contains chemicals (zinc and organic compounds) which can be released in the environment.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not in rats with experimentally induced diabetes there is an increased frequency of congenital malformations; data in the literature are not consistent on this point. Virgin CD females rats were injected with 40-50 mg/kg streptozotocin (Stz) before mating (SIBM group) or on the first day of pregnancy (SI1). Both SIBM and SI1 females were divided into two groups according to their blood glucose levels: severely diabetic (SD, greater than 300 mg%) and mildly diabetic (MD, 120-250 mg%). Food and water consumption by the control and MD groups were the same, but the SD females developed polyphagia, polyuria, and polydypsia, which continued to increase throughout pregnancy, as did the blood glucose levels. All the MD females mated and carried to term. In SD females both frequency of mating and fertility were only slightly lower than in the controls. All the females were killed on the 21st day of pregnancy. Pre- and postimplantation losses were the same for diabetic and control rats, but SIBM-SD females ovulated less than other groups. Weights of fetuses of SD dams were lower and blood sugar levels higher than those of the other groups. The placentas of SD rats were significantly heavier and there was cystic degeneration of spongiosa. The incidence of major malformations was minimal (approximately 2%) in fetuses of SD females and there were none at all in controls or MD females. In conclusion, our data are in agreement with those of other investigators who have found that rats with experimentally induced diabetes have smaller fetuses and increased placental weight.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The embryotoxicity of 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid (MCPA), an extensively used herbicide, has been evaluated and compared to that of phenol and chlorocresol (two common contaminants) with a bioassay that makes use of embryos of the amphibian Xenopus. The MCPA-Na salt used in the bioassay was purified by crystallization and acid-base purification methods, and the concentrations of phenol and chlorocresol were checked by high-performance liquid chromotography. The relationship between the concentration of the tested molecule and the outcomes (i.e., mortality and malformations) was investigated using different models (probit, logit, and complementary log-log). The resulting LC50s for MCPA, chlorocresol, and phenol are 3,607, 13, and 178 mg/L, respectively; the resulting LC10s are 1,526, 6, and 32 mg/L. It is evident that the real MCPA toxicity can be masked by the presence of contaminants much more toxic than the molecule studied. Moreover, our results show that the three chemicals do not present a high teratogenic risk. Growth retardation shows that MCPA, chlorocresol, and phenol are effective at concentrations as low as 2,000, 2.5, and 25 mg/L, respectively. Keywords-EmbryotoxicTeratogen Herbicide Xenopus EmbryoEnviron. Toxicol. Chem. 15, 1996 G. Bernardini et al.