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61964 
Technical Report 
Tolerance criteria for continuous inhalation exposure to toxic material I Effects on animals of 90-day exposure to phenol, CCL4, and a mixture of indole, skatole, H2S, and methyl mercaptan 
Sandage, C 
1961 
Niosh/00128561 
Aerospace Medical Laboratory 
ASD 
61-519 
Physiological changes in Sprague-Dawley-rats, albino-mice, and rhesus-monkeys were studied during a continuous 90 day exposure to controlled atmospheres of toxic vapors and gases. Concentrations of chemicals were: carbon-tetrachloride (56235) (CCl4) at 25 parts per million (ppm); phenol (108952) at 5ppm; and a mixture of indole (120729), skatole (83341), hydrogen-disulfide (7783064) (H2S), and methyl-mercaptan (74931) at concentrations of 10, 3, 20 and 50ppm, respectively. Clinical laboratory tests included hematological analyses, urinalysis, and liver and kidney function tests. A stress test (swimming to exhaustion) was also conducted. Autopsies, with gross and microscopic pathology examinations, were done on all animals. Continuous exposure to phenol resulted in negative findings for all clinical laboratory data. There was no weight loss in mice and a small weight gain in rats and monkeys compared to controls. Stress endurance was greater in exposed mice and equivalent for control and exposed rats and monkeys. Exposure to CCl4 resulted in the deaths of one monkey. Rats and monkeys (but not mice) exposed to CCl4 showed weight loss and a slight decrease in endurance. All exposed monkeys and rats and 75 percent of exposed mice showed evidence of liver damage. Exposure to the mixture of indole, skatole, H2S, and methyl-mercaptan produced significant sulfhemoglobin formation in all animals, with mice most affected; significant lung and liver pathology and weight loss in exposed mice but not in exposed rats and monkeys; and decreased stress endurance in rats. No rats died, but monkey and mouse mortalities were high, possibly as a result of increased susceptibility to infection. The author concludes that mortality rates from toxic exposure were surprisingly low and were not in accordance with predictions based on reputable toxicological theory. 
DCN-141036; Animal studies; Toxic gases; Breathing atmospheres; Biochemical tests; Biological effects; Hepatotoxicity; Microscopy; Physiological response; Physiological testing