Lead distribution in the saliva and blood fractions of rats after intraperitoneal injections.

Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with 1, 2 or 3 i.p. injections of lead acetate (100 mg/kg) and sacrificed 24 h, 3 days, 7 days, 14 days and 21 days after the last injection. Lead concentration was determined by flameless AAS technique in whole blood, plasma, plasma filtrate, saliva and submaxillary gland tissue. The concentration of lead in saliva was about 5% of whole blood lead concentration and around 61% of plasma filtrate lead level. Saliva lead concentration was significantly related both to whole blood lead concentration and plasma filtrate lead concentration (r = 0.78, P less than 0.001; r = 0.80, P = 0.001 respectively). Lead was present in the submaxillary gland tissue; the amount of lead increased with increasing amounts administered.