Magnesium nitrate, a substance occurring naturally in soil and water, or obtainable through synthesis, is mostly used as a compound in plant fertilizers. If animals ingest food previously treated with large amounts of magnesium nitrate, residues of it may remain in their flesh, then can reach the human body. Epidemiological studies suggest that high levels of nitrates in food and water can cause
congenital malformations and spontaneous abortions in humans. The goal of the present study was to determine the effects of magnesium nitrate on the development of chicken embryos, and to observe the changes induced in their cephalic extremity. Egg inoculation with a magnesium nitrate solution of two different concentrations (0.16 and 0.61%, respectively) showed that: the higher concentration
affected the hatching process (32.64% of the viable embryos, the rest of them dying at 43-45 embryonic stages/HH), while 2.04% of them evidenced severe malformations of the cephalic extremity (abnormally developed jaw and beak, absence of eyelids, growths in the occipital and frontal areas of the skull).
- avian culture
- cephalic extremity
- embryos
- magnesium nitrate