Histological Study of Toxic Effects of Solder Fumes on Thickness of Germinal Epithelium in Seminiferous Tubule in Rat

Toxic fumes generating during soldering contains various contaminants. The aim of the study was to determine toxic effects of solder fumes in thickness of semniferous tubule in Rat. 48 male adult rats were randomly divided into experimental (n=30) and control (n=18) groups. Based on exposure time, each group was further divided into three subgroups such as 2, 4 and 6 weeks. The concentrations of toxic fumes were measured by standard method. Rats of experimental group were exposed to solder fumes for 1 hour/day. According to time table rats of experimental and control subgroups were killed. After fixation of testis, paraffin sections were stained by Hematoxylin & Eosin. The thicknesses of germinal epithelium were measured and data were analyzed by SPSS software version 17 with Mann Whitney test. The results showed that the concentration of fumes was 0.193 mg/m3 for formaldehyde, 0.35 mg/m3 for Stanum (Sn) and 3 mg/m3 for Pb. Although there was no significant difference for weight of rats’ testis between control and experimental subgroups, there was only a significant difference for the thickness of germinal epithelium between 6 week experimental and control subgroups (p<0.02). The results of study showed that solder fumes can change the structure and thickness of seminiferous epithelium in experimental groups in a time dependent manner.