In vivo Activity of Dust Inhalation at Ratcon Quarry, Sokuro Village, Oluyole, Ibadan Oyo State

A total of twenty (20) experimental adult male rats, aged 60 days (7 to 8 weeks) with average body weight between 150-200 gm were grouped, restrained inside laboratory approved plastic holders and exposed to dust inhalation at the quarry site with exposure time of 7, 14 and 21 days to reflect short-term effects while 42days represent long-term effects of dust inhalation on human beings. Each specimen was collected and sacrificed at their grouped survival periods and subjected to laboratory analysis that include Hematology and Histopathology of the lungs. The Hematologyresults of the 7 and 14days specimens revealed no remarkable changes in the Erythrogram (PCV, HB and RBC), the Leucogram (WBC) and the Platelets but however, the results of the 21 and 42 days specimen revealed leukocytosis (increase in WBC), lymphocytosis (increase Lym) and neutrophilia (increase neutrophils) (p<0.05). The Histopathology results of the first specimen (7 days exposure) showed no observable lesion, the second specimen(14 days) showed capillary congestion and mild interstitial pneumonia, while the third (21 days) and fourth (42 days) samples showed the rats graduating from mild to moderate interstitial pneumonia and oedema. The risk of these diseases depends on the amount of organic or inorganic dusts inhaled and deposited in the alveolar region, the air concentration of respirable dust as well as the exposure time and breathing pattern.