Cellular toxicity of toluene on mouse gamete cells and preimplantation embryos.

Toluene is an aromatic hydrocarbon, which has been used in the paint, lacquer and glue industry. It has been detected in municipal water supplies. Previous mouse in vivo studies indicated that toluene administrated by gavage increased the embryonic mortality. The present in vitro study demonstrated that a concentration of toluene higher than 8.67 micrograms/ml not only decreased sperm motility and inhibited fertilization, but also significantly increased preimplantation embryo degeneration. At lower levels no effects were observed and the adverse effect levels were approximately 780 fold higher than reported levels in municipal water supplies.