[Attempt to assess the effect of atmospheric pollution on human beings and experimental animals via biochemical...

Three biochemical methods--erythrocyte oxygen consumption, erythrocyte decarboxylation and oxygen consumption of tissue homogenates--to determine the influence of atmospheric pollution in populated communities are suggested. The first two methods which provide information on erythrocyte metabolism, employed both in humans and in animals experimented upon, adequately reflect the atmospheric pollution effect in four industrial areas, differing by the type and degree of pollution agents. Oxygen consumption in tissue homogenates of liver and kidney from experimental animals, raised in the same areas, exhibits an analogical correlation. The inference is reached that the degree of inhibition of the oxidation processes in the organism may be employed in atmospheric pollution effect assessment.