Title: Pregnancy loss and eye malformations in offspring of F344 rats following gestational exposure to mixtures of regulated trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids.

Authors: Narotsky, Michael G; Best, Deborah S; McDonald, Anthony; Godin, Elizabeth A; Hunter 3rd, E Sidney; Simmons, Jane Ellen

Published In Reprod Toxicol, (2011 Jan)

Abstract: Chlorination of drinking water yields hundreds of disinfection by-products (DBPs). Among the DBPs, four trihalomethanes (THMs; chloroform, bromodichloromethane, chlorodibromomethane, bromoform) and five haloacetic acids (HAAs; chloroacetic, dichloroacetic, trichloroacetic, bromoacetic, and dibromoacetic acid) are U.S. EPA regulated. We assessed the combined toxicity of these DBPs. F344 rats were treated with mixtures of the four THMs (THM4), the five HAAs (HAA5), or nine DBPs (DBP9; THM4+HAA5). Mixtures were administered in 10% Alkamuls(ýý) EL-620 daily by gavage on gestation days 6-20. Litters were examined postnatally. All three mixtures caused pregnancy loss at ýýý 613 ýýmol/kg/day. In surviving litters, resorption rates were increased in groups receiving HAA5 at 615 ýýmol/kg/day and DBP9 at 307 ýýmol/kg/day. HAA5 caused eye malformations (anophthalmia, microphthalmia) at ýýý 308 ýýmol/kg/day. Thus, both HAAs and THMs contributed to DBP9-induced pregnancy loss. The presence of THMs in the full mixture, however, appeared to reduce the incidence of HAA-induced eye defects.

PubMed ID: 20850520

MeSH Terms: No MeSH terms associated with this publication