Repeated exposure to alpha-ethylacrolein vapour: subacute toxicity study in rats.

The subacute inhalation toxicity of alpha-ethylacrolein was examined in rats by repeated exposure of 4 groups of 10 males and 10 females each to alpha-ethylacrolein vapour at concentrations of 0, 2.0, 9.8 or 48.4 ppm, respectively, (6 h/day, 5 days/week) for a period of 13 weeks. The effects at 48.4 ppm were found to include growth retardation, focal alopecia, increased activity of glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase, glutamic-pyruvic transaminase and alkaline phosphatase in the blood serum, decreased concentrations of total protein and albumin in the blood serum, increased relative weight of the heart, liver, adrenals and lungs, and histopathological changes in the respiratory tract mainly consisting of hyper- and metaplasia of respiratory epithelium and atrophy of the nasal olfactory epithelium. While at the 9.8 ppm level only a few relatively minor effects were noticed, viz. decreased concentrations of total protein and albumin in the blood serum and minimal hyper- and metaplasia of the tracheobronchial epithelium, no changes attributable to alpha-ethylacrolein were observed at the 2.0 ppm level.