Repeated exposure to acrolein vapour: subacute studies in hamsters, rats and rabbits.

The subacute inhalation toxicity of acrolein was examined in 4 groups of 20 hamsters, 12 rats and 4 rabbits each, exposed repeatedly to acrolein vapour at concentrations of 0, 0.4, 1.4 and 4.9 ppm (6 h/day, 5 days/week) for a 13-week period. The most important effects found at the highest level included mortality in rats, ocular and nasal irritation, growth depression and histopathological changes of the respiratory tract in each of the animal species exposed. The aberrations in the airways consisted of destruction and hyper- and metaplasia of the lining epithelium accompanied by inflammatory alterations. Rats appeared to be the most susceptible of the species examined and showed treatment-related abnormalities even at 0.4 ppm, whereas this exposure level was found to be a no-toxic effect level in both hamsters and rabbits.