Effect of alcohol sulfate, linear alkylbenzene sulfonate and natural soap on the development of fertilized eggs of the mouse in vitro.

Eggs from B6 x C3F1 female mice, which were fertilized in vitro with sperm from C3 x 101F1 male mice, were treated with synthetic surfactants, alcohol sulfate (AS) and linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS), and natural soap for 1 h at the pronucleus stage, and then cultivated for 5 days. Eggs treated with AS or LAS at concentrations of less than 0.025% developed to the blastocyst stage as well as the untreated ones. At concentrations of AS or LAS higher than 0.03% no egg developed beyond the 1-cell stage. There appeared to be a threshold concentration between 0.025% and 0.03% of AS or LAS on the development of the mouse egg. However, natural soap had no effect on the development of the mouse egg up to 0.05%. When AS or LAS was applied to the culture medium throughout the cultivation of fertilized eggs for 5 days, there also appeared to be a threshold concentration between 0.01% and 0.025%, but not in the case of natural soap. The results provide additional support to our previous observations that AS and LAS can interrupt mouse pregnancy by killing fertilized eggs.