Abstract
Separate groups of Sprague-Dawley-rats were inhalation exposed to 3000 or 6000 parts per million (ppm) 1-butanol (71363). One group of 15 pregnant rats was exposed for 7 hours a day throughout gestation. A second group of 18 males were similarly exposed for 7 hours a day for 6 weeks and mated to unexposed females. Few behavioral or neurochemical alterations were detected in the offspring following maternal or paternal exposure to either concentration of 1-butanol when tested by ascent on a wire mesh screen, rotorod, open field and photoelectrically monitored activity, running wheel, avoidance conditioning, and operant conditioning. The brains from ten of the offspring were dissected at 21 days of age into various sections and each sample assayed for protein and the neurotransmitters acetylcholine, dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, met-enkephalin, beta-endorphin, and substance-P. Based on the toxicities associated with ethanol and the theory that toxicity increased with chain length, the findings of no significant toxicological alterations arising following 1-butanol exposures suggests it may be necessary to readdress the theory of additional toxicity arising with increasing chain length.
