Pulmonary toxicity of indium arsenide and arsenic selenide following repeated intratracheal instillations to the lungs of hamsters

Abstract

AbstractChronic toxicity of indium arsenide (InAs) and arsenic selenide (As2Se3) was studied in male Syrian golden hamsters which received InAs or As2Se3 particles, each containing a total dose of 7.5 mg of arsenic, by intratracheal instillations once a week for 15 weeks. As a control, hamsters were treated with the vehicle, phosphate buffer solution. During their total lifespan, the cumulative body weight gain of the hamsters in the InAs group was suppressed significantly compared with that in the control group, but not in the As2Se3 group when compared with that in the control group. However, the survival rate for the InAs group was significantly higher compared with the control group, but not for the As2Se3 group when compared with the control group. During the animals' total lifespan, one lung adenoma was seen in the 27 hamsters in the InAs group and one lung adenoma in the 23 hamsters in the control group. No tumors of the lung were observed in the As2Se3 group. Malignant tumors outside the lung appeared in four hamsters in the InAs group and in two in the As2Se3 group. No non‐lung malignant tumours were seen in the control group. Total tumor incidence rates were 25.9% (7/27) in the InAs group, 10.3% (3/29) in the As2Se3 group and 8.7% (2/23) in the control group. There were therefore no significant differences in tumor incidence between the InAs or the As2Se3 group, and the control group.Regarding histopathological findings in the lung, incidence rates of proteinosis‐like lesions, pneumonia, metaplastic ossification and emphysema were seen only in the InAs group, and alveolar or bronchiolar cell hyperplasia observed in both the InAs and the As2Se3 groups were at significantly higher rates than those in the control group.From these results, it was concluded that InAs and As2Se3 particles could induce pulmonary toxicity when instilled intratracheally into hamsters. A great deal of attention should be paid to the toxicity of both InAs and As2Se3, even though in this study the adverse health effects of As2Se3 appeared to be less than those of InAs.