Determinants of irritant termination behavior
Journal Article
·
· Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol.; (United States)
Mice will respond to escape from airborne chemical irritants. Irritant concentration is major determinant of this performance. Behavioral variables also affect both the acquisition and sensitivity of this behavior. Mice will rapidly learn to poke their nose into a conical sensor if the poke terminates the delivery of 0.1% ammonia and produces a facial shower of clean humidified air from the sensor. Without a response-contingent facial shower mice learned more slowly to escape from ammonia, and did not acquire comparable levels of performance. Subsequent access to a facial shower improved their performance within a few sessions. Discontinuing the facial shower for mice who learned the task with it resulted in a moderate disruption of performance. Requiring five responses rather than a single response for irritant termination resulted in a steeper concentration-effect curve which is more useful for the evaluation of the relative aversive potency of airborne chemical irritants. A comparison of two prototypical irritants demonstrated that the aversive concentration of ammonia at which 50% of the irritant deliveries are terminated (AC50) is 334 ppm; the AC50 for acetic acid is 43 ppm. Therefore, acetic acid is approximately eight times more aversive than ammonia.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Rochester, NY
- OSTI ID:
- 5236606
- Journal Information:
- Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol.; (United States), Journal Name: Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol.; (United States) Vol. 61; ISSN TXAPA
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Behavioral evaluation of sensory irritation evoked by ammonia
Behavioral evaluation of the irritating properties of ozone
Sensory irritation and incapacitation evoked by thermal decomposition products of polymers and comparisons with known sensory irritants
Journal Article
·
Sun Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1978
· Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol.; (United States)
·
OSTI ID:6637267
Behavioral evaluation of the irritating properties of ozone
Journal Article
·
Wed May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1985
· Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol.; (United States)
·
OSTI ID:6177748
Sensory irritation and incapacitation evoked by thermal decomposition products of polymers and comparisons with known sensory irritants
Journal Article
·
Sat Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1977
· Arch. Environ. Health; (United States)
·
OSTI ID:6799985
Related Subjects
500200 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
550100 -- Behavioral Biology
560305* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology-- Vertebrates-- (-1987)
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ACETIC ACID
AIR POLLUTION
AMMONIA
ANIMALS
AVOIDANCE
BEHAVIOR
CARBOXYLIC ACIDS
DOSE-RESPONSE RELATIONSHIPS
HYDRIDES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MAMMALS
MICE
MONOCARBOXYLIC ACIDS
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NITROGEN HYDRIDES
ORGANIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
RODENTS
VERTEBRATES
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
550100 -- Behavioral Biology
560305* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology-- Vertebrates-- (-1987)
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ACETIC ACID
AIR POLLUTION
AMMONIA
ANIMALS
AVOIDANCE
BEHAVIOR
CARBOXYLIC ACIDS
DOSE-RESPONSE RELATIONSHIPS
HYDRIDES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MAMMALS
MICE
MONOCARBOXYLIC ACIDS
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NITROGEN HYDRIDES
ORGANIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
RODENTS
VERTEBRATES