The Offspring-damaging Effect of Tetrachloro-ethylene in Rats, Mice and Rabbits*

Éva Szakmáry, György Ungváry and Erzsébet Tátrai

National Institute of Occupational Health, Budapest, Hungary
 
Corresponding author:
Prof. Dr. György Ungváry M.D., Ph.D., Sc.
Director General
National Institute of Occupational Health
H-1450 Budapest
P.O. Box 22
Phone: (+36) 1-215-5491
FAX: (+36) 2-215-6891

CEJOEM 1997, 3:31-39

*This work was supported by Grant No T-020875/1996 OTKA


Key words: Skeletal retardation, internal organ retardation, malformation rate, pre- and post-
implantational loss

Abbrevation:
TCE = tetrachloro-ethylene



Abstract: The authors used CFY rats, C57 BL mice (LATI Gödöllõ), and NZ rabbits (ÁKI Budapest) in their studies to detect the damaging effect of tetrachloro-ethylene on the offsprings. Rats inhaled air containing tetrachloro-ethylene in concentrations of 0, 1500, 4500 or 8500 mg/m3 each day during the whole gestation; rabbits and mice inhaled air containing 0, 4500 or 1500 mg/m3 tetrachloro-ethylene each day during the organogenesis. In further groups of rats, the development of the offspring was followed up until the 100th postnatal day.
    It was found that tetrachloro-ethylene increases in the maternal blood as a function of exposure, penetrates the placenta and appears in the embryonic blood and in the amniotic fluid. Tetrachloro-ethylene proved to have a definite maternal toxic effect in rats and rabbits. In all three rodent species it hindered skeletal development and body weight gain of the embryos. In mice and rats it is embryotoxic and teratogenic, in rabbits it causes spontaneous abortion and/or the death of the embryos, but does not induce offspring malformations.
    Tetrachloro-ethylene has no notable influence on the postnatal morphoontogenesis, and the development, maturation of the functions of the central nervous system (except the occasional occurrence of disorders in the motor functions and exploratory activities) in prenatally exposed offsprings.
Received: 19 November 1996
Accepted: 06 February 1997

Posted: 16 December 1998

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