Toxicologic and reproductive effects of inhaled 1,2-Dibromo-3-chloropropane in rats

• Published in: Fundamental and applied toxicology 1983-01, Vol.3 (2), p.104-110
• Main Authors: Rao, K.S., Burek, J.D., Murray, F.J., John, J.A., Schwetz, B.A., Bell, T.J., Potts, W.J., Parker, C.M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Antinematodal Agents - toxicity; Embryo Implantation - drug effects; Erythrocyte Count; Female; Fertility - drug effects; Hemoglobins - analysis; Kidney - pathology; Leukocyte Count; Litter Size - drug effects; Liver - pathology; Male; Pregnancy; Propane - analogs & derivatives; Propane - toxicity; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Reproduction - drug effects; Respiration; Sex Factors; Testis - pathology
• ISSN: 0272-0590; 1095-6832
• DOI: 10.1016/S0272-0590(83)80064-5

Groups of 30 male and 30 female Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed by inhalation to 0, 0.1, 1.0 or 10 ppm of 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane (DBCP) vapor for 6 hr/day, 5 days/week for 14 weeks followed by recovery periods of up to 32 weeks. The fertility of male rats was evaluated by mating trials with unexposed females. The exposed female rats were mated to unexposed male rats at the end of the 14-week exposure period and again during post-treatment and were allowed to deliver. Five rats/sex/exposure level were killed after 4 weeks and after 14 weeks of exposure; remaining rats were sacrificed at the end of the recovery period. DBCP did not affect the ability of males to impregnate females; however, a dominant lethal effect was evident at 10 ppm which tended to reverse by 5 weeks after termination of exposure. Moderate testicular atrophy (males) and focal aggregates of altered cells in the adrenal cortex (males and females) were observed in rats sacrificed immediately after exposure to 10 ppm for 14 weeks, but not in those exposed to 1.0 or 0.1 ppm. Pathologic evaluation of the rats from the recovery portion of the study showed treatment-related alterations in males and females in the 10 and 1.0 ppm exposure groups, but not in the groups exposed to 0.1 ppm. The testicular alterations that were present in the 10 ppm males after the 14-week exposure period were tending to reverse by the end of the recovery period. Lesions were observed in the adrenal cortex of recovery males and females from the 10 ppm exposure level; females exposed to 1 ppm had slight adrenal cortical lesions at the end of the recovery period. In addition, increased numbers of ovarian cysts were present in recovery females from the 10 ppm exposure level. Brain effects consisting of focal or multifocal mineralized deposits were present in males and females in the 10 ppm exposure level. No treatment-related alterations were recognized in any of the rats from the 0.1 ppm recovery groups.