An Experimental Study on the Effects of Chronic Briquette Gas Exposure to the Gestation Patterns of the Rats.

Carbon monoxide poisoning is one of the most prevalent noxious gas poisonings throughout world. Especially high incidence of carbon monoxide poisoning due to the use of the anthracite coal briquette as the main domestic fuel has raised many serious medical problems in Korea. Author designed this study to observe the effects of chronic exposure to relatively low concentration of coal briquette gas on the gestation patterns of the rats. Ninety rats divided into 3 groups. one for the control. the other high concentration (CO, 1. 500 ppm, SO,. 5ppm) and the third low concentration (CO, 750 ppm, S02, 2.5ppm) groups. The rats in experimental group were exposed to briguette gas 30 minutes daily during the gestational period. The pregnancy wastage. gestation rate by the period. the size and body weight of the litters and congenital amomalies of the litters were observed. The findings obtained are as follows; 1. Higher incidence of pregnancy wastages was found in the briquette gas exposure group compared to the control group. The high concentration group showed the highest rate of pregnancy wastages. 2. In the high concentration group. one-third of the pregnancy wastage was obserbed at the end of the 2nd week of the gestation and two-third of them in the Srd week of the gestation. 3. The reduction in the size and the body weight of the litters was "found in the gas exposure group and this tendency was manifested in the high concentration group. 4. One case of ectromelia was observed in the low concentration group and two cases in the high concentration group. The teratogenic effect of hypoxia induced by carbon monoxide poisoning: might be regarded as one of the factors in the genesis of this type of congenital melformation