T-2 mycotoxin,inhalation

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Acute Inhalation Toxicity of T-2 Mycotoxin in Mice1

D. A. CREASIA, J. D. THURMAN, L. J. JONES, III, M. L. NEALLEY, C. G. YORK, R. W.

WANNEMACHER, Jr. and D. L. BUNNER

Divisions of Palhophysiology, Pathology, and Airborne Diseases, United Slates

Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases Fort Detrick, Frederick,

land 21701-5011

Acute Inhalation Toxicity of T-2 Mycotoxin in Mice. Creasia, D. A., THURMAN, J.

D., JONES, L. J., III, NEALLEY, M. L., YORK, C. G., WANNEMACHER, R. W., Jr., and

BUNNER, D. L. (1987). Fundam. Appl. Toxicol. 8, 230–235. Experiments were

conducted to study the acute inhalation toxicity of T-2 mycotoxin in both young

adult and mature mice. For a 10-min aerosol exposure, the 24-hr LC50 of T-2

mycotoxin in young adult mice was 0.08 ± 0.04 mg T-2/liter air and that for

mature mice was 0.325 ± 0.1 mg T-2/liter air. Deaths among mice exposed to the

higher aerosol concentrations used in this study (i.e., 1.5 to 2.4 mg T-2/liter

air) occurred in less than 5 hr. General clinical symptoms in these animals

immediately postexposure were tremors, lethargy, stilted gait, and, in some

animals, prostration. In experiments separate from the concentration-response

studies, total deposition of T-2 aerosol and selective retention of T-2 in the

respiratory tract and nasal turbinates were determined analytically from

3H-labeled T-2. When total deposition of T-2 was quantitated, there was

excellent agreement between that amount of T-2 deposited and that amount of T-2

predicted from calculations based on aerosol size and animal minute volume.

Based on the aerosol deposition data, the LD50 values of T-2 mycotoxins was 0.24

mg/kg for young adult mice and 0.94 mg/kg for mature mice. For mice, inhalation

of T-2 mycotoxin is at least 10 times more toxic than systemic administration

(LD50 4.5 mg/kg) and at least 20 times more toxic than dermal administration

(LD50 > 10 mg/kg).

http://toxsci.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/8/2/230