Reproductive toxicity and lack of dominant lethal effects of 2,4-dinitrotoluene in the male rat.

Adult male Sprague Dawley rats were gavaged with 2,4-dinitrotoluene (2,4-DNT) dissolved in corn oil at 0, 60, 180, or 240 mg/kg/day for five days. A single oral dose (0.5 mg/kg) of triethylenemelamine was used as a positive control. Induction of dominant lethal events was scored on the basis of early fetal deaths. At the two lower doses, no consistent changes were observed in the numbers of pre-implantation losses, implantation sites, or living or non-living fetuses. The highest dose of 2,4-DNT tested resulted in a marked decrease in the numbers of sperm-positive females (determined by microscopic examination of vaginal smears for sperm) and pregnant females. These two effects diminished in the latter weeks of mating. The low number of pregnant females at the highest dose made meaningful statistical evaluations difficult. The results indicate that 2,4-DNT does not cause dominant lethal mutations but does adversely affect reproductive performance.