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Effects of secondary biological treatment plant effluent administration, as drinking water, to rats’ urogenital system in relation to cadmium and lead accumulation

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of the secondary biological treatment plant effluent administration on the kidneys, urinary bladder, and testis of Wistar rats in relation to lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) accumulation, since such an effluent is used for irrigation of edible plants. Male Wistar rats, randomly assigned into 5 groups, were treated with domestic sewage effluent (DSE) for 24 months. Cadmium and lead concentrations in the DSE, rats’ tissues, and urine were estimated by means of atomic spectroscopy. Lead was rapidly accumulated in high amounts in rats’ kidney and to a lesser extent in the testis whereas Cd concentration was raised in all tissues examined. Deposition of Cd and Pd in the kidney of the rats resulted in profound damage over time. The results showed that long-term administration to DSE as drinking water exposes living organisms to urogenital stress related to heavy metal concentration and pH of the effluent.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, 45110, Ioannina, Greece

    Ioannis Papagiannis, Patra Vezyraki, Yannis V. Simos, Evangelos Kontargiris, Dimitrios Peschos, Angelos Evangelou & Vasiliki Kalfakakou

  2. Department of Technical Service, Region of Epirus, Ioannina, 45444, Greece

    Ioannis Papagiannis

  3. Department of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, 45110, Greece

    Evangelos Kontargiris

  4. Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, 45110, Ioannina, Greece

    Xenophon Giannakopoulos & Nikolaos Sofikitis

Authors
  1. Ioannis Papagiannis
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  2. Patra Vezyraki
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  3. Yannis V. Simos
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  4. Evangelos Kontargiris
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  5. Xenophon Giannakopoulos
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  6. Dimitrios Peschos
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  7. Nikolaos Sofikitis
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  8. Angelos Evangelou
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  9. Vasiliki Kalfakakou
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yannis V. Simos or Vasiliki Kalfakakou.

Ethics declarations

Experimental animals were handled in accordance with the European Union directive (EEC Directive 2010/63/EEC) for the care and the use of laboratory animals (Authorization: Vet. Direct. No. 2081. Certified University of Ioannina animal facility: EL33-BIObr01/EL33-BIOexp01).

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Papagiannis, I., Vezyraki, P., Simos, Y.V. et al. Effects of secondary biological treatment plant effluent administration, as drinking water, to rats’ urogenital system in relation to cadmium and lead accumulation. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 36434–36440 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06737-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06737-z

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