Teratological evaluation of inhaled ethyl acrylate in rats

Abstract

Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats (33 per group) were exposed to 0, 50, or 150 ppm of ethyl acrylate for 6 hr/day during Days 6 through 15 of gestation (the period of major organogenesis). Maternal toxicity as evidenced by decreased body weight gain, decreased food consumption, and increased water consumption was noted among rats exposed to 150 ppm of ethyl acrylate. In the presence of maternal toxicity at 150 ppm, a slight but not statistically significant increase in malformed fetuses was observed. At 50 ppm, there was neither maternal toxicity nor an adverse effect on the developing embryo or fetus in rats. Based on these data, inhalation of the ethyl acrylate vapors by rats at a concentration of 50 or 150 ppm during major organogenesis was not considered to be teratogenic.