Inhalation reproductive toxicology studies: Sperm morphology study of n-hexane in B6C3F1 mice: Final report

Technical Report · Mon Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1988

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6800315· OSTI ID:6800315

Mast, T J; Hackett, P L; Decker, J R; Westerberg, R B; Sasser, L B; McClanahan, B J; Rommereim, R L; Evanoff, J J

The straight-chain hydrocarbon, n-hexane, is a volatile, ubiquitous solvent routinely used in industrial environments. Although myelinated nerve tissue is the primary target organ of hexane, the testes have also been identified as being sensitive to hexacarbon exposure. The objective of this study was to evaluate the epididymal sperm morphology of male B6D3F1 mice 5 weeks after exposure to 0, 200, 1000, or 5000 ppM n-hexane, 20 h/day for 5 consecutive days. Two concurrent positive control groups of animals were injected intraperitoneally with either 200 or 250 mg/kg ethyl methanesulfonate, a known mutagen, once each day for 5 consecutive days. The mice were weighed just prior to the first day of exposure and at weekly intervals until sacrifice. During the fifth post-exposure week the animals were killed and examined for gross lesions of the reproductive tract and suspensions of the epididymal sperm were prepared for morphological evaluations. The appearance and behavior of the mice were unremarkable throughout the experiment and there were no deaths. No evidence of lesions in any organ was noted at sacrifice. Mean body weights of male mice exposed to n-hexane were not significantly different from those for the 0-ppM animals at any time during the study. Analyses of the sperm morphology data obtained 5 weeks post-exposure (the only time point examined) indicated that exposure of male mice to relatively high concentrations of n-hexane vapor for 5 days produced no significant effects on the morphology of sperm relative to that of the 0-ppM control group. 24 refs., 2 figs., 7 tabs.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 6800315
• Report Number(s): PNL-6672; ON: DE89000262
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560300* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AIR POLLUTION
ALKANES
ANIMALS
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
CLEARANCE
DOCUMENT TYPES
DOSE-RESPONSE RELATIONSHIPS
DOSES
EVALUATION
EXCRETION
EXHALATION
HEXANE
HYDROCARBONS
INHALATION
INTAKE
KINETICS
LETHAL DOSES
MAMMALS
METABOLISM
MICE
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PHARMACOLOGY
POLLUTION
PROGRESS REPORT
REPRODUCTION
RODENTS
SEX DEPENDENCE
VERTEBRATES