Chronic lead poisoning in horses

Journal Article · Tue May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1973 · J. Am. Vet. Med. Assoc.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5317898

Knight, H D; Burau, R G

Chronic lead poisoning in horses was manifested as anorexia, loss of body weight, muscular weakness, anemia, laryngeal hemiplegia, and, terminally, inhalation pneumonia. Some deaths were sudden and unexplained. The lead content in liver specimens from 10 horses was greater than that considered indicative of lead intoxication; however, the lead content of blood was equivocal. The most conclusive laboratory finding was increased urine lead concentration after chelation therapy. The concentration of lead in a sample of vegetation considered to be representative of what a horse would eat if he was grazing in the area sampled was 325 ppM (oven-dry basis). It was determined that a 450-kg horse grazing grass of this lead content would consume 2.9 Gm of lead daily (6.4 mg/kg of body weight), an amount considered toxic for horses. Leaching lowered the calcium content of the forage but failed to reduce the lead concentration of the plants significantly, thus opening the possibility that winter rains might have influenced the onset of poisoning. Airborne fallout from a nearby lead smelter was proposed as the primary mode of pasture contamination.

• Research Organization: Univ. of California, Davis
• OSTI ID: 5317898
• Journal Information: J. Am. Vet. Med. Assoc.; (United States), Journal Name: J. Am. Vet. Med. Assoc.; (United States) Vol. 162:9; ISSN JAVMA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ANEMIAS
ANIMALS
ANOREXIA
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
BLOOD CHEMISTRY
BODY
CHRONIC EXPOSURE
CONTAMINATION
DEATH
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
DISEASES
DISSOLUTION
DISTRIBUTION
ELEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FOOD CHAINS
GLANDS
GRASS
HEMIC DISEASES
HORSES
INGESTION
INJURIES
INTAKE
LEACHING
LEAD
LIVER
MAMMALS
METALS
NERVOUS SYSTEM DISEASES
ORGANS
PLANTS
PNEUMONIA
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM DISEASES
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SMELTERS
SOILS
SYMPTOMS
TISSUE DISTRIBUTION
VERTEBRATES