Gliomas occurred in rats given lead acetate or lead subacetate by the oral route. No evaluation could be made of the carcinogenicity of lead arsenate, lead carbonate, lead oxide, metallic lead powder, lead naphthenate or lead nitrate. Lead chloride gave positive results in DNA misincorporation tests.
Lead acetate induced morphological transformations in Syrian hamster cells.
There was insufficient evidence to evaluate the mutagenicity of organometallic lead compounds. Lead salts have been reported to cross the placenta and to induce embryo- and fetomortality. They also have a teratogenic effect in some animal species. No teratogenic effects have been reported with exposure to organometallic lead compounds. Three epidemiological studies have been made of workers who were exposed to either lead and inorganic lead compounds or to tetraethyllead.