1. The effect of changing the valency of the arsenic and of introducing substituents into the benzene ring on the distribution in the body and excretion of an aromatic arsenical has been studied, using phenylarsenoxide, phenylarsonic acid, m‐amino‐p‐hydroxyphenylarsen‐oxide (mapharsen), and m‐amino‐p‐hydroxyphenylarsonic acid, injected intravenously into rabbits.2. A high arsenic content was found in liver and kidney in all cases, and also in lung in the case of phenylarsenoxide.3. The ratio between the total amounts of arsenic excreted in the urine and in the feces varied widely with the different compounds, but the urinary output predominated in all experiments. The arsonic acids were cleared from the body more rapidly than the corresponding arsenoxides. Of the latter, unsubstituted phenylarsenoxide was the more slowly excreted.4. The slow rate of clearance of phenylarsenoxide may explain its high toxicity as compared with the other arsenicals studied. It is thought that the slow excretion and high toxicity of phenylarsenoxide, as compared with mapharsen, may be due to slower oxidation to the corresponding arsonic acid.
Read full abstract