Hematological, Biochemical and Histopathological Changes on Exposure to Aluminum Dust

Abstract

Aluminum (Al) is considered the most widely distributed element in nature especially in the earth's crust. Workers in the secondary Al industries are occupationally exposed to intense environmental Al dust. This study was carried out to assess the levels of indoor respirable Al dust in addition to the changes in some hematological and biochemical parameters of the exposed workers. An animal experiment was performed to investigate the histopathological changes on the trachea and lungs of rats exposed to Al dust to assess the risk of Al exposure among the workers. The results of this study showed that the highest respirable dust concentration was detected in the finishing department (6459.33 µg/m 3 ) that exceeded the permissible exposure limit. While, the lowest concentrations 2182.29 and 1220.88 µg/m 3 were found in casting and rolling departments, respectively. A significant decrease in RBC's count, Hb, HCT, MCV, MCHC and platelets number with significant increase in WBC's, lymphocyte counts, serum urea and creatinine level were observed in exposed workers when compared to the control group. Furthermore, rats exposed to inhalation of dust induced some histopathological changes in their trachea and lung tissues. The degree of these changes was proportional to the duration of Al dust exposure. Thus, strict enforcement of appropriate, effective preventive and control measures must be required.

Hematologic evaluation of peripheral blood in Sprague Dawley rats by chronic exposure to aluminum chloride (AlCl3)

“…%TS gives a measure of plasma iron and iron primary transport protein, transferrin. Transferrin is considered an important biochemical marker of the state of iron in the body [50]. The results did not show significant differences between the groups (p>0.05), which agrees with the results obtained by Turgut et al [44], which revealed no differences with regard to this parameter [44].…”

“…When aluminum binds to transferrin, the iron remains free, increasing iron intracellular concentration and subsequently causing lipid peroxidation of erythrocytes, which leads to the destruction of these blood cells due to membrane damage [11,56]. However, several authors have pointed out that aluminum is capable of interfering with the production of blood cells, and thus an increase in blood cells is a compensatory mechanism for the damage caused by this metal [41,50]. It is worth pointing out that the changes in the parameters described above were not observed in the present study.…”