Influence of Dietary Copper on Lead Toxicity in the Young Male Rat

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Abstract
An investigation of the influence of dietary copper (1, 5, 20 ppm) on toxicity of dietary lead (0 and 200 ppm) in the young male rat in a 4-week period indicated that as dietary copper increased so did the severity of lead toxicity. Evidence included increased lead concentration in kidney and a two- to threefold increase in the excretion of urinary deltaaminolevulinic acid. Liver copper concentration was also found to increase in rats receiving lead at the two lower copper levels. The data suggest that supplementary dietary copper does not lessen the severity of lead toxicity but rather exaggerates it.