Ten (10) male Wistar rats of average body weight 160 g were nominally exposed to petrol for seven (7) days and the effect of this on the organs:- brain, lungs, spleen, kidneys and liver were investigated. Another set of 10 male Wistar rats of similar weight which were not exposed to petrol served as the control. All the rats were maintained ad libitum on chick's mash and water and were sacrificed after 7 days. The results show that rats exposed to petrol gained significantly (p < 0.05) lower weights than the control rats after 7 days. There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) between the relative weights of the visceral organs of the test and control animals. Histologic changes were however observed in the liver, kidneys, lungs and brain of animals exposed to petrol vapours. These changes were characteristically vascular, degenerative/necrotic and inflammatory. These results suggest that nominal exposure to petrol may precipitate organ damage. Keywords: petrol, rats, organ pathogenesis Bio-Research Vol.1(1) 2003: 75-82
O Obidoa, E Eirewele, LUS Eseanyika, SVO Shoyinka
