A CHRONIC INHALATION STUDY OF METHYL BROMIDE TOXICITY IN B6C3F1 MICE. (FINAL REPORT TO THE NATIONAL TOXICOLOGY PROGRAM)

This report provides a detailed account of a two year chronic inhalation study of methyl bromide toxicity in B6C3Fl mice conducted for the National Toxicology Program. Mice were randomized into three dose groups (10, 33 and 100 ppm methyl bromide) and one control group (0 ppm) per sex and exposed 5 days/week, 6 hours/day, for a total of 103 weeks. Endpoints included body weight; clinical signs and mortality, and at 6, 15 and 24 months of exposure, animals were sacrificed for organ weights, hematology and histopathology. In addition, a subgroup of animals in each dosage group was monitored for neurobehavioral and neuropathological changes. After only 20 weeks of exposure, 48% of the males and 12% of the females in the 100 ppm group had died. Exposures were terminated in that group and the surviving mice were observed for the duration of the study. Exposure of B6C3Fl mice to methyl bromide, even for only 20 weeks, produced significant changes in growth rate, mortality, organ weights and neurobehavioral functioning. These changes occurred in both males and females, but were more pronounced in males