Interaction of alkyllead salts with avian eggs

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Abstract
The interactions of alkyllead salts with avian eggs were studied both in vitro and in vivo. During 74 h incubation in viable American kestrel (Sturnus vulgaris) eggs, trialkyl and dialkylleads (each at 50 ppb as Pb) rapidly traversed biological membranes within the eggs and were accumulated in the yolk and in the developing embryo. Since the chick resorbs the yolk just prior to hatching, it will be burdened with the majority of alkylleads present in the egg. During the experiment dialkylleads but not the trialkyllead homologs were extensively degraded. There was an appreciably greater interaction in vitro of each of the four alkyllead salts with the yolk fraction than with an equivalent weight of egg white from chicken eggs. This interaction was not influenced by 31 yg Fe (0.8 equivalents of the total Pb added) and only a very small portion of the total interaction could be attributed to the presence of ovotransferrin. These in vitro observations suggest that the lipophilic character of egg yolk does not account for the accumulation observed in the in vivo experiment.