Cement Dust and Nephrotoxicity in Albino Rat

Abstract

With increasing infrastructural development in developing countries, the rise in the demand of cement has also increased which has resulted in the exposure of cement in the environment and the living organisms in the environment. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of duration of cement dust exposure on kidney organs in rats. A total of 25 rats were used for this study. The rats were divided equally into 5 groups (A, B, C, D and E) with each group having 5 rats. “A” group was not exposed to cement dust (control group); “B” group was exposed to cement dust for one hour daily for 15 days; “C” group was exposed to cement dust for one hour daily for 30 days; “D” group was exposed to cement dust for one hour daily for 45 days; E group was exposed to cement dust for one hour daily for 60 days. After the durational exposure, the rats were sacrificed, blood and kidney tissue harvested for biochemical assessment of kidney function and histological studies of the kidney. The result showed that there was significant difference in the levels of kidney function parameters (sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate, urea and creatinine) amongst the groups. This was confirmed in the histological reports. This study has shown that durational exposure of rats to cement dust has great impact on the kidney.