n-Butyl acrylate: prenatal inhalation toxicity in the rat

n-Butyl acrylate was examined for its prenatal toxicity in Sprague-Dawley rats. Inseminated rats were exposed to concentrations of 0, 25, 135 and 250 ppm for a duration of 6 hours per day from the 6th to 15th day post coitum. Subsequently the animals were held to the 20th day post coitum. During the inhalation period concentrations of 135 and 250 ppm n-butyl acrylate led to maternal toxicity (delayed body weight gain depending on the concentration, clinical signs of irritation). At the end of the exposure period the signs subsided. The same concentrations induced embryolethality (increased number of dead implantations depending on the concentration). 25 ppm of n-butyl acrylate did not lead to maternal toxicity or embryolethality. Under the conditions chosen, a teratogenic effect of the test substance was not detected at any concentration.