CHROMIUM POISONING AND CHICK EMBRYOGENESIS

The effects of Cr on chick embryos were analyzed in the present study. Chromium trioxide was dissolved in saline and injected into embryonating chicken eggs at doses ranging from 0.002-0.05 mg/egg. The injections were made into the air sacs of eggs at Days 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 of incubation. Control eggs were injected with an equivalent volume of saline (0.1 ml/egg). In all, 840 chicken eggs were used for this study. All the embryos were examined at Day 8. The following malformations were observed: short and twisted limbs, microphthalmia, exencephaly, short and twisted neck, everted viscera, edema and reduced body size. Most of the embryos showed unilateral and bilateral limb defects. Chromium trioxide had the tendency to cause malformations in the chick embryos tested.