[Fate of benzo(a)pyrene in the digestive tract. 1. Its disappearance]

In an early stage, diets with 0,1% or 0,05% of B(a)P decreased the intake and the growth of young rats (78 g) and adult rats (415 g). The stomach tissue adsorbed the B(a)P (30 micrograms/whole tissue) by a physical mechanism. Both in intestinal contents and wall, the amount of B(a)P was much higher in growing rats than in old animals; also, the faeces respectively contained 1.99 mg and 0.03 mg of B(a)P/g dry. The "digestibility" of B(a)P was of 88.7% (after 6-13 days of experiment) to 99.6% after 15-22 days. The blood serum of young rats contained 1.36 microgram de B(a)P/100 ml.