“…Lead bioavailability, in general terms, can be defined as that portion of ingested lead that is retained by the body to interact with the various ongoing metabolic processes. A number of chemical, physical, and physiological factors, including Ca 21 , Fe 21 , diet composition, gut pH, etc., are involved in the absorption of ingested lead into the body and deposition in various tissues (Barltrop and Khoo, 1975;Barltrop and Meek, 1975;Flanagan et al, 1982;Heard et al, 1983: Hemphill et al, 1991Mielke and Heneghan, 1991). Since nutritional and physiological processes are easier and cheaper, to study in rats than in larger mammals, many health regulatory guidelines for humans have been established based on studies done in rats.…”