Effects of chlorine dioxide on thyroid function in neonatal rats.

Chlorine dioxide (ClO2), an alternative to chlorine for drinking water disinfection, has been implicated as a potential antithyroid agent (Bercz et al., 1982). Because antithyroid compounds are known to alter neurobehavioral development, the present study was designed to determine if perinatal exposure to ClO2 affects behavioral activity in rat pups. The activity cage system was designed to monitor the development of locomotor activity of a litter of pups between ages 14-21 d. Pups were exposed to ClO2 either directly, by gavaging 14 mg/kg . from age 5 to 20 d, or indirectly via their dams' drinking water in concentrations of 2, 20, or 100 mg/l from gestation to weaning (21 d postpartum). Although the activity of the indirectly exposed group was not different from controls, the gavaged group showed significantly depressed activity for d 18 and 19 postpartum. The T4 levels of the 21-d-old pups was significantly depressed in the 100-mg/l ClO2 group. The gavaged pups showed an even greater T4 depression, which correlates with their activity levels. These data support the hypothesis that ClO2 affects thyroid function and suggests that a slight depression in T4 can result in developmental delays.