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2251658 
Technical Report 
General Toxicity/Reproductive Toxicity Screen of Modular Artillery Charge System (XM232) Administered in the Diet of Sprague-Dawley Rats 
Eggers, JS; Kinkead, ER; Feldmann, ML; Wolfe, RE; Flemming, CD 
1996 
NTIS/03011042_a 
GRA and I 
GRA and I 
An artillery propellant under development by the US Army is a granular mixture of 98% nitrocellulose, nitroglycerine, nitroguanidine, and and lt;2% cryolite and graphite. The propellant, Modular Artillery Charge System, or MACS, consists of a single increment of propellant charge contained within a rigid, combustible casing. As part of the process to develop environmental and health effects criteria, a 90-day modified Screening information Data Set reproductive assay was performed. Male and Female Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with diet containing either 0.0, 0.2, 1.0 or 2.0 g propellant/kg diet. No mortalities occurred and body weights were unaffected by treatment. Methemoglobin concentrations of high-dose rats measured after 28 days and at the conclusion of the study were significantly elevated (23-25%) compared to control rats. Relative organ weights of treated animals did not differ from weights of their respective control groups. No adverse effects occurred in mating or fertility indices. No significant treatment related differences were noted in length of gestation, sex ratio, gestation index, or mean number of pups per litter.