Object of investigation: soil, water, forage, rats, cows, calves, animal products. Aim: to investigate the distribution of Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd and 88Sr in soil, water and forage in various geographic areas of Ukraine, to establish the ways of their uptake and accumulation in tissues of cows, to investigate effect of heavy metals on clinical condition and animal metabolism, to develop efficient ways to reduce the contents of heavy metals in cows' tissues. Methods: clinical, zoo-hygienic and animal science, biochemical, analytical, spectrophotometric, biometric and others. Theoretic and practical results: for the first time, it has been established and experimentally proved that biological activity of Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd and 88Sr is based on their ability to accumulate and to negatively influence clinical condition of animals, functions of organs and tissues, alter reaction of biological fluids, inhibit enzymatic systems and protein-synthetic function of lever, alter levels and correlation of proteins, free ordinary and essential amino acids in tissues. An excessive contents of heavy metals in soil, water, forage, body tissues and animal products in various biogeochemical zones of Ukraine have been established for the first time. It has been experimentally shown that contents of Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd and 88Sr in tissues of milking cows depends on their age, food ration structure, type of feeding of animals, contents and ratios of heavy metals in forage and water. The levels of heavy metals in the tissues of the newly-born calves depends on their contents in cows' tissues. An experimental model to investigate the impact of heavy metals on clinical, functional and metabolic conditions of organs and tissues, their toxic kinetics, toxic dynamics, ethyology and pathogenesis of diseases has been developed on rats. It has been established that sorbents (Saponit, Chumolit, Paligorskit, Polysorb-M, Phytosorbent and Envet-1) can effectively eliminate an excessive contents of Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd and 88Sr in laboratory animals and milking cows. Application: agricultural enterprises of various types of property; in teaching of ecology, toxicology, pharmacology, therapy, veterinary sanitation and hygiene of farm animals to students of veterinary medicine and animal science at agrarian educational establishments of Ukraine.
