Skip to main content
NCBI home page
British Journal of Industrial Medicine logoLink to British Journal of Industrial Medicine
. 1975 Nov;32(4):308–315. doi: 10.1136/oem.32.4.308

Behaviour of rats exposed to trichloroethylene vapour.

A P Silverman, H Williams
PMCID: PMC1008081  PMID: 1238103

Abstract

Rats were exposed to trichloroethylene (TCE) vapour for about five five-day weeks at concentrations from 100 to 1 000 ppm, and at 100 ppm for 12 1/2 weeks. The social behaviour of paired male rats was observed periodically in the home cage for five minutes after they had been exposed to TCE. The principal finding was a consistent reduction of up to 24% in the total acitivity. A single day's exposure to TCE was sufficient at the highest concentration. At 100 ppm, a similar decline in activity was significant after 1 1/2 weeks' exposure in one experiment and 8 1/2 weeks' in another. The decline in activity was fairly uniform and not usually because of specific reductions in particular kinds of behaviour. However, exploration of the cage and submission to, or escape from, the other rat were sometimes specifically reduced. In an 'exploration-thirst' test, rats were deprived of water overnight and placed on two or three occasions in a previously unfamiliar cage. Rats exposed to 100, 200, or 1 000 ppm TCE found water and began drinking sooner than their controls without altering the rate of movement about the cage. These results suggest lowered performance in a familiar situation where rats are usually very active and some loss of inhibitory control in an unfamiliar one. At the present threshold limit value, repeated exposure to TCE eventually had effects similar to those of one day's exposure to a higher concentration, but only after a widely variable delay.

Full text

PDF
308

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. BATTIG K., GRANDJEAN E. CHRONIC EFFECTS OF TRICHLOROETHYLENE ON RAT BEHAVIOR. EFFECTS ON SWIMMING PERFORMANCE, EXPLORATORY BEHAVIOR, AND MAZE AND AVOIDANCE LEARNING. Arch Environ Health. 1963 Dec;7:694–699. doi: 10.1080/00039896.1963.10663602. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Boettner E. A., Muranko H. J. Animal breath data for estimating the exposure of humans to chlorinated hydrocarbons. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J. 1969 Sep-Oct;30(5):437–442. doi: 10.1080/00028896909343152. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. DANIEL J. W. THE METABOLISM OF 36C1-LABELLED TRICHLOROETHYLENE AND TETRACHLOROETHYLENE IN THE RAT. Biochem Pharmacol. 1963 Aug;12:795–802. doi: 10.1016/0006-2952(63)90109-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. DEWS P. B. Studies on behavior. I. Differential sensitivity to pentobarbital of pecking performance in pigeons depending on the schedule of reward. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1955 Apr;113(4):393–401. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. GAGE J. C. The toxicity of epichlorhydrin vapour. Br J Ind Med. 1959 Jan;16(1):11–14. doi: 10.1136/oem.16.1.11. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. GOLDBERG M. E., JOHNSON H. E., POZZANI U. C., SMYTH H. F., Jr EFFECT OF REPEATED INHALATION OF VAPORS OF INDUSTRIAL SOLVENTS ON ANIMAL BEHAVIOR. I. EVALUATION OF NINE SOLVENT VAPORS ON POLE-CLIMB PERFORMANCE IN RATS. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J. 1964 Jul-Aug;25:369–375. doi: 10.1080/00028896409342606. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. GRANDJEAN E., MUNCHINGER R., TURRIAN V., HASS P. A., KNOEPFEL H. K., ROSENMUND H. Investigations into the effects of exposure to trichlorethylene in mechanical engineering. Br J Ind Med. 1955 Apr;12(2):131–142. doi: 10.1136/oem.12.2.131. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. GRANDJEAN E. Trichloroethylene effects on animal behavior. The effects of trichloroethylene vapors on a food motivated conditioned climbing reaction of rats. Arch Environ Health. 1960 Aug;1:106–108. doi: 10.1080/00039896.1960.10662674. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Ikeda M., Otsuji H., Imamura T., Komoike Y. Urinary excretion of total trichloro-compounds, trichloroethanol, and trichloroacetic acid as a measure of exposure to trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene. Br J Ind Med. 1972 Jul;29(3):328–333. doi: 10.1136/oem.29.3.328. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Imamura T., Ikeda M. Lower fiducial limit of urinary metabolite level as an index of excessive exposure to industrial chemicals. Br J Ind Med. 1973 Jul;30(3):289–292. doi: 10.1136/oem.30.3.289. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Krsiak M., Janků I. Measurement of pharmacological depression of exploratory activity in mice: a contribution to the problem of time-economy and sensitivity. Psychopharmacologia. 1971;21(2):118–130. doi: 10.1007/BF00572269. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. SILVERMAN A. P. ETHOLOGICAL AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF DRUG EFFECTS ON THE SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR OF LABORATORY RATS. Br J Pharmacol Chemother. 1965 Apr;24:579–590. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1965.tb01749.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Salvini M., Binaschi S., Riva M. Evaluation of the psychophysiological functions in humans exposed to trichloroethylene. Br J Ind Med. 1971 Jul;28(3):293–295. doi: 10.1136/oem.28.3.293. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Smith G. F. The investigation of the mental effects of trichlorethylene. Ergonomics. 1970 Sep;13(5):580–586. doi: 10.1080/00140137008931181. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Stewart R. D., Dodd H. C., Gay H. H., Erley D. S. Experimental human exposure to trichloroethylene. Arch Environ Health. 1970 Jan;20(1):64–71. doi: 10.1080/00039896.1970.10665543. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Stopps G. J., McLaughlin M. Psychophysiological testing of human subjects exposed to solvent vapors. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J. 1967 Jan-Feb;28(1):43–50. doi: 10.1080/00028896709342484. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Vernon R. J., Ferguson R. K. Effects of trichloroethylene on visual-motor performance. Arch Environ Health. 1969 Jun;18(6):894–900. doi: 10.1080/00039896.1969.10665511. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Journal of Industrial Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES