In the adult the liver is the chief accumulatory organ.

Arsenic, which in the mother elects to accumulate in the liver, is in the fetus stored up in the skin; copper accumulates in the fetal liver, central nervous system, and sometimes in the skin; lead which is found specially in the maternal liver, but also in the skin, has been observed in the skin, liver, nervous centers, and elsewhere in the fetus.

The frequent presence of poisons in the fetal skin demonstrates its physiologic importance.

It has probably not a very marked influence on its health.
On the contrary, accumulation in the placenta and nerve centers explains the pathogenesis of abortion and the birth of dead fetuses ("mortinatatite") Copper and lead did not cause abortion, but mercury did so in two out of six cases.

Arsenic is a powerful abortive agent in the guinea-pig, probably on account of placental hemorrhages.