Toxic effects of Cu implants on liver.

In an effort to identify possible systemic effects due to dissolution of Cu from the experimental use of dental amalgam, specimens of pure Cu and several dental amalgams containing various concentrations of Cu were implanted into the peritoneal cavity of rats for 4 weeks. Concentrations of Cu in the liver varied from 33.3 to 156.2 micrograms Cu/dry g of liver tissue after implantation of the Cu-containing amalgams. Histopathological changes in the liver confirmed the presence of Cu within the lysosomes of hepatocytes. The histopathological and chemical changes in the liver after implantation indicated the need for subsequent investigations of long-term systemic toxicity to the use of Cu-containing implants.