Altered Embryonic pH

In this chapter we present information which has led us to believe that alteration of intracellular pH (pHi) in the mammalian embryo is a potential mechanism by which exogenous chemical and physical insults lead to congenital malformations. Historically, there has been little interest in pH as an important developmental parameter, and those measurements which were made in lower forms must be viewed with great caution, as reviewed by BRachet (1968).