TOXICOLOGICAL PROFILE FOR CHROMIUM - Davidborowski.com

CHROMIUM 1822. HEALTH EFFECTSSevere renal impairment, renal failure, and necrosis of renal tubules have been reported in cases of fatal ornear fatal ingestion of chromium(VI) compounds by humans (Clochesy 1984; Ellis et al. 1982; Fristedt etal. 1965; Goldman and Karotkin 1935; Iserson et al. 1983; Kaufman et al. 1970; Saryan and Reedy 1988;Sharma et al. 1978). Acute nephritis has also been reported in cases of dermal exposure of chromium(VI)compounds (Brieger 1920; Major 1922; Smith 1931).Intermediate- and chronic-duration inhalation studies using #0.4 mg chromium(VI)/m 3 as sodiumdichromate or 0.1 mg total chromium as a mixture of chromium(VI) trioxide and chromium(III) oxide(Glaser et al. 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990) reported no clinical or histological evidence of adverse effects onthe kidneys of rats. Effects on the kidneys of rats exposed orally to chromium(VI) compounds have beendetected by biochemical and histochemical techniques. These consisted of increased accumulation oflipids, altered distribution of the lipids, and inhibition of membrane enzymes in the kidneys in rats treatedby gavage with 13.5 mg chromium(VI)/kg/day as potassium chromate (Kumar and Rana 1982, 1984).Urinalysis of rats given 98 mg chromium(VI)/kg/day as sodium chromate in drinking water for 28 daysshowed an increase in protein and a decrease in urine volume (Diaz-Mayans et al. 1986). Histologicalexamination revealed no morphological changes in the kidneys of rats exposed to drinking waterproviding 2.7 mg chromium(VI)/kg/day as potassium chromate for 1 year (MacKenzie et al. 1958). Nohistological evidence of kidney damage in animals was reported in oral studies of chromium(III)compounds (Anderson et al. 1997b; Ivankovic and Preussmann 1975; MacKenzie et al. 1958; Schroederet al. 1965).Numerous studies in animals using other routes of administration of chromium compounds have reportedrenal effects. In acute experiments, necrosis of the proximal tubules and alterations of kidney enzymes(Franchini et al. 1978; Gumbleton and Nicholls 1988; Siegel et al. 1984; Sparrow et al. 1988) and alteredkidney function (Appenroth and Braunlich 1988; Siegel et al. 1984) were observed in rats injectedsubcutaneously with 1.8–6.4 mg chromium(VI)/kg as potassium chromate, potassium dichromate, sodiumchromate, or sodium dichromate; lipid peroxidation (Ueno et al. 1988), proteinuria (Diaz-Mayans et al.1986), and degeneration of proximal tubules (Evan and Dail 1974) occurred in rats injected intraperitoneallywith 2–10 mg chromium(VI)/kg as sodium chromate or potassium chromate. Mice injected with0.6 mmole chromium(VI)/kg or 1 mmole chromium(VI)/kg had increases in serum urea nitrogen and adecrease in kidney glutathione reductase activity, whereas treatment with 0.6 mmole chromium(III)/kgresulted in no marked changes (Hojo and Satomi 1991). Proteinuria was also seen in rabbits (Nomiyamaet al. 1982) and renal tubule necrosis was seen in monkeys (Hunter and Roberts 1932) after acutesubcutaneous injection of 1.8 and 8.8 mg chromium(VI)/kg, respectively, as potassium dichromate.