Chronic toxicity and oncogenicity inhalation study with vinyl acetate in the rat and mouse

Vinyl acetate was evaluated for chronic toxicity and oncogenicity in male and female rats and mice in a 104-week study. Target concentrations were 0, 50, 200, and 600 ppm. The study included interim terminations at approximately 53 and 83 weeks and a group whose exposure was terminated at 70 weeks and allowed a 15-week recovery period. Over the course of the exposures, body weight gain was consistently depressed in all 600 ppm groups and in the 200 ppm mice. Except for female rats of the 600 ppm exposure group, recovery animals showed significant improvements in weight gain relative to controls. There were no changes in hematological parameters of either species that could be unequivocally related to treatment. The only effect noted on clinical chemical parameters during the study were decreases in blood glucose in the 600 ppm females. There were no adverse effects on survival in either species. Increases in lung weight were noted in rats and mice primarily in the 600 ppm groups. These changes were associated with bronchial exfoliation, macrophage accumulation, and fibrous plaques and buds extending into the airway lumen, and bronchial/bronchiolar epithelial disorganization. The most significant histopathological changes were noted in the nasal cavity. In the olfactory epithelium of both rats and mice, the main nonneoplastic changes included epithelial atrophy, regenerative effects (squamous metaplasia and respiratory metaplasia of olfactory epithelium), basal cell hyperplasia, and epithelial nest-like infolds. No nonneoplastic changes were observed in the respiratory epithelium of rats, while squamous metaplasia at the naso/maxilloturbinate region was prevalent in mice. Nonneoplastic changes were similar in the recovery groups. Oncogenic responses to vinyl acetate exposure were mainly confined to the nasal cavity in rats and included endo- and exophytic papillomas, squamous cell carcinoma, carcinoma in situ in olfactory regions, and endophytic papilloma in respiratory regions. Squamous cell carcinomas were also found either in areas normally covered by cuboidal epithelium or areas of unknown origin. One squamous cell carcinoma was found in the larynx of a rat of the 600 ppm groups. One squamous cell carcinoma was found in the lung of a mouse of the 600 ppm group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)