Kerosene: A Study of Tissue Histology and Serum Vitamin and Heavy Metal Levels of Female Wistar Rats Chronically Exposed

Background: Kerosene a commonly available product used for a variety of purposes in many parts of
Asia and Africa is sometimes sold in beverage bottles and jerry cans in both commercial and
residential places due to inadequate number of filling stations. Therefore excessive exposure through
both dermal and oral routes is common.
Objective: This study was embarked upon to ascertain the impact of trace amount of kerosene on
tissue histology as well as serum vitamin and heavy metal levels in female Wistar rats.
Methods: Kerosene (0.4 mL/kg body weight) was administered to rats either through the oral or
dermal route daily for a period of 30 days. The effects of kerosene administration on tissue histology;
serum vitamin levels and serum concentrations of heavy metals were evaluated using hematoxylineosin
staining technique; high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); and atomic absorption
spectrometry (AAS) respectively. Student’s t test and analysis of variance were used for statistical
analysis of data. P <0.05 was considered significant.
Results: Histopathologic presentation such as pulmonary congestion, severely stunted villi,
congestion of coronary vessels, and diffuse spongiosis of the cerebral cortex were observed in
kerosene administered groups while control group featured no visible lesion. Results of heavy metals
revealed that although As, Al and Cd were not significantly different in kerosene exposed groups
compared with control, Si was significantly lower (oral), and significantly higer (dermal) compared with
control. In addition, using analysis of variance (ANOVA) all estimated vitamins (except pantothenic
acid) were significantly different in kerosene exposed groups compared with control.
Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that exposure to this product either through the oral or
dermal route may be detrimental to health as it induced adverse alteration in vitamin and heavy metal
levels as well as distorted tissue histo-architecture.