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