INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECT OF THE TOXICANTS ARSENIC AND MANGANESE ON MALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM OF WISTAR RAT.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1 INTRODUCTION.
In today’s industrialized world, exposure to pollutants in which heavy metals like arsenic, lead, manganese are an example is of high risk. These metals are present even in drinking water. Arsenic is mostly present in underground water. These metals are highly distributed in our environment and are thus consumed in quantities greater than what by the body requires (Ferrer, 2003).
Increased levels of arsenic in the environment, is an attribute to industrial product and waste, agricultural pesticides and herbicides. Although manganese is an essential element, toxicity can be gotten from drinking water, food, occupation and so on. Exposure to these heavy metals can cause poison and damage to models(the human body. Effects of arsenic have been reported in both human and experimental ATSDR a, 2012; Kannan et al., 2001). Mn exposure can also cause neurotoxicity (ATSDR b, 2007). Manganism, a consequence of exposure to high Mn levels, is a known neurological syndrome with many symptomatic analogies to Parkinson’s disease (Santamaria, 2008). Manganese and arsenic also target the same organ in the body, namely the brain (ATSDR, 2007a,b,c).
Given their co-existence in soil and atmosphere, exposure to toxicity does not occur in isolation (Kordaset al., 2010). Indeed, in the real world, exposures to complex mixtures are the rule, rather than exception (Scherer, 2005). Over the last several decades, the incidence of neurological diseases has increased (WHO, 2006).Mn poisoning results in an irreversible condition known as “manganism,’’ a neurodegenerative disorder that resembles Parkinson disease in both symptomatology and the underlying cellular mechanisms (Ellingsen et al., 2008; Martinez-Finley et al., 2012). Neurological disorders induced by chronic metal exposure can be progressive and manifest clinically decades after the initial exposure (Gil and Pla, 2001). The onset of neurotoxic effects is largely subtle, insidiously manifested and unidentifiable as a clearly defined disease (Shy, 1993). Exposure to arsenic- and lead-contaminated drinking water has been associated with an increased occurrence of congenital heart defects (CHDs). Groundwater is a vital hidden natural resource
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