Abstract
Summary
Ten 16-day pregnant rats were force-fed a tracer-dose of 203Hg as methyl mercury chloride. The rat was then killed at 1, 2, 4 or 5 days after force-feeding and the 10 maternal brains as well as the 114 fetal brains were each separated into several brain parts. The uptake of mercury in the maternal brain was greatest in the cerebrum followed in decreasing order by cerebellum, pons plus midbrain, medulla, and hypothalamus. The uptake expressed as a percentage of the dose remained essentially the same throughout the 5-day period after force-feeding. In the fetal brain the uptake however increased more than 3-fold from day 17 to day 21 of fetal life. Expressed on the basis of % of dose per g tissue, the fetal cerebellum contained the highest concentration of mercury when compared to either fetal cerebrum or pons, midbrain plus medulla, or to any maternal brain parts. The total fetal brain mass from an average litter accumulated, during the first 2 days after force-feeding, approximately the same percentage of the dose as in the mother's brain. However, during the following 3 days, the total brain mass of each litter had 2.5 to 3.5 times the uptake level in the mother's brain.
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