Toxicological consequences of Aroclor 1254 ingestion by female rhesus (Macaca mulatta) monkeys and their nursing infants. Part 3: post-reproduction and pathological findings

Abstract

A group of 80 menstruating rhesus (Macaca mulatta) monkeys were randomly allocated to four similar rooms (20 monkeys/room) and then to one of five dose groups (four females/dose group/room). Each day the monkeys self-ingested capsules containing doses of 0, 5, 20, 40 or 80 microg Aroclor 1254/kg body weight. After 25 months of continuous dosing, approximately 90% of the treated females had attained a qualitative pharmacokinetic steady state with respect to the concentration of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) in their nuchal fat pad. Concurrently, sebaceous glands were being examined for changes analogous to chloracne. Subsequently, the females were paired with untreated males. The infants' blood PCB levels at birth were not correlated with its dam's dose or blood PCB level. However, there was an association between an infants preweaning blood PCB levels and its dam's dose and PCB milk levels. After weaning, the infants were not dosed with PCB. The half-life for the PCB in the infants' blood was determined and found to be slightly more than 15 wk. After 6 yr on test, three monkeys from the 0, 5, 20 and 40 microg dose groups were randomly allocated to a depletion study to ascertain the half-lives of specific PCB congeners (Mes et al., Chemosphere 1995, 30, 789-800). Concurrently, necropsies began of the remaining females, and of seven infants from the treated dams and four infants from the control dams, which had attained an age of 2 yr. Approximately 3 yr later, the depletion monkeys were necropsied. The only statistically significant treatment-related pathological changes found during the study were in the adult females, in which an involution of the sebaceous glands and a dose related increase in liver weight due to hyperplasia were evident.