© 1982 Oxford University Press
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Dose-dependent Disposition of n-Hexane in F-344 Rats After Inhalation Exposure1
Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709
Dose-dependent Disposition of n-Hexane in F-344 Rats After Inhalation Exposure. Bus, J.S., Deyo, D. and Cox M. (1982). Fundam. Appl. Toxicol. 2:226-229. The purpose of this study was to assess the disposition of radioactivity in rats after single inhalation exposures to varying concentrations of [l,2-14C]-n-hexane. Male Fischer 344 rats were exposed to 500,1000,3000 or 10,000 ppm 14C-n-hexane for 6 hr and the elimination of radioactivity followed for 72 hr after exposure. The disposition of radioactivity was dose-dependent, with 12, 24, 38 and 62% of the acquired body burden excreted as n-hexane by the lung with increasing exposure concentration. In contrast, 38, 31, 27 and 18% of the body burden of radioactivity was recovered as expired 14CO2 and 35,40,31 and 18% was recovered in the urine with increasing n-hexane concentration. Radioactivity remaining in the tissues and carcass 72 hr after exposure represented 6.1,8.8, 7.4 and 5.4% of the body burden for the respective exposures. The dose-dependent'elimination of radioactivity was apparently due in part to an inhibition of n-hexane metabolism, reflected by a decrease in total 14CO2 and urinary 14C excretion after 10,000 ppm exposure compared to the 3000 ppm exposure.