The chronic toxicity of lauryl gallate

Abstract

Summary and ConclusionsLong‐term feeding experiments with albino rats involving concentrations of lauryl gallate as high as 0.5% in the daily diet produced no deleterious effects as judged by food intake, rate of growth, gross observations at time of autopsy, and histopathological examination of tissues. Diets containing 1.0% lauryl gallate definitely inhibited growth of male rats and retarded growth of females slightly. Levels of 2.5 and 5% lauryl gallate caused no histopathological changes in various organs but decreased the food intake to a point where starvation was an obvious factor in death of the animals. Lauryl gallate produced skin irritation but did not produce skin sensitization. The property of skin irritation might be of importance to workers engaged in the production and handling of lauryl gallate. There is no evidence to indicate that ingestion of slight amounts, such as might be encountered in edible fats and oils protected against oxidation, would produce harmful effects.