Registration Dossier

Data platform availability banner - registered substances factsheets

Please be aware that this old REACH registration data factsheet is no longer maintained; it remains frozen as of 19th May 2023.

The new ECHA CHEM database has been released by ECHA, and it now contains all REACH registration data. There are more details on the transition of ECHA's published data to ECHA CHEM here.

Diss Factsheets

Toxicological information

Repeated dose toxicity: inhalation

Currently viewing:

Administrative data

Endpoint:
sub-chronic toxicity: inhalation
Type of information:
experimental study
Adequacy of study:
key study
Study period:
1989-04-10 to 1989-07-12
Reliability:
1 (reliable without restriction)
Rationale for reliability incl. deficiencies:
other: This study is classified as reliable without restriction because it closely followed OECD Guideline 413.

Data source

Reference
Reference Type:
study report
Title:
Unnamed
Year:
1990
Report date:
1990

Materials and methods

Test guideline
Qualifier:
equivalent or similar to guideline
Guideline:
OECD Guideline 413 (Subchronic Inhalation Toxicity: 90-Day Study)
GLP compliance:
yes
Limit test:
yes

Test material

Constituent 1
Reference substance name:
5-80% n-hexane
IUPAC Name:
5-80% n-hexane

Test animals

Species:
rat
Strain:
Fischer 344
Sex:
male/female
Details on test animals or test system and environmental conditions:
TEST ANIMALS
- Source: Charles River Breeding Laboratories, Raleigh, NC
- Age at study initiation: 8 weeks
- Weight at study initiation: approx. 181 g male, approx. 123 g female
- Housing: individually in stainless steel wire mesh cages, identified by tail tattoo
- Diet (e.g. ad libitum): Purina Rodent Chow Brand Animal Diet#5002, ad libitum
- Water (e.g. ad libitum): ad libitum, Elizabethtown Water Company
- Acclimation period: 20 days


ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
- Temperature (°C): 68-75 degree F
- Humidity (%): 40-60
- Photoperiod (hrs dark / hrs light): 12 hrs light/12 hrs dark


IN-LIFE DATES: From: April 10, 1989 To: July 12, 1989

Administration / exposure

Route of administration:
inhalation: vapour
Type of inhalation exposure:
whole body
Vehicle:
other: unchanged (no vehicle)
Remarks on MMAD:
MMAD / GSD: Particle size measurements showed that there was no measurable amount of test substance present as aerosol.
Details on inhalation exposure:
GENERATION OF TEST ATMOSPHERE / CHAMBER DESCRIPTION
- Exposure apparatus: 1000 l glass and stainless steel exposure chamber
- Method of holding animals in test chamber: individual cages
- Source and rate of air: chamber supplied air, 200-216 lpm
- Method of conditioning air: Test substance in a 5-gallon drum passed through a fluid metering pump into teflon tubing to a coiled glass rod in the volatilization chamber. Nitrogen was also fed into the volitization chamber. A heating element was positioned in the center of the glass coil to aid volatilization. The nitrogen and test substance mixture, then entered the exposure chamber.
- Air flow rate: 200-216 lpm
- Air change rate: 4.6-5.0 min.

TEST ATMOSPHERE
- Brief description of analytical method used: GC
- Samples taken from breathing zone: yes, once per week

Analytical verification of doses or concentrations:
yes
Details on analytical verification of doses or concentrations:
Air samples were drawn from the chamber via teflon tubing into charcoal tubes.
Duration of treatment / exposure:
13 weeks
Frequency of treatment:
6 hrs/day, 5 days/week
Doses / concentrationsopen allclose all
Remarks:
Doses / Concentrations:
0, 900, 3,000, 9000 ppm
Basis:
nominal conc.
Remarks:
Doses / Concentrations:
0, 904, 2,984, 8,992 ppm (0, 3182, 10504, 31652 mg/m3)
Basis:
analytical conc.
No. of animals per sex per dose:
10 animals of each sex per dose
Control animals:
yes, sham-exposed

Examinations

Observations and examinations performed and frequency:
CAGE SIDE OBSERVATIONS: Yes
- Time schedule: twice daily
- Cage side observations: mortality, toxicological and pharmacological effects


DETAILED CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS: Yes
- Time schedule: prior to test and week during the test


BODY WEIGHT: Yes
- Time schedule for examinations: twice prior to test, weekly during test and at termination


FOOD CONSUMPTION:
- Food consumption for each animal determined and mean daily diet consumption calculated as g food/kg body weight/day: Yes
Weekly beginning one week prior to test

OPHTHALMOSCOPIC EXAMINATION: Yes
- Time schedule for examinations: prior to test and prior to sacrifice


HAEMATOLOGY: Yes
- Time schedule for collection of blood: prior to test on 10 animals per sex, and at sacrifice
- Animals fasted: Yes
- Anaesthetic used for blood collection: Yes, ether
- Parameters checked: erythrocyte count, hemoglobin count, hematocrit, total and differential leucocyte count, platelet count, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration


CLINICAL CHEMISTRY: Yes
- Time schedule for collection of blood: prior to test on 10 animals per sex, and at sacrifice
- Animals fasted: Yes
- Parameters checked: glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase, creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, fasting glucose, total protein, alkaline phosphatase, albumin, potassium, sodium, calcium, chloride, inorganic phophorus, gamma glutamyl transpeptidase, total bilirubin, creatine phosphokinase, lactic acid dehydrogenase


Sacrifice and pathology:
GROSS PATHOLOGY: Yes
all orifices, cranial cavity, brain, spinal cord, nasal cavity, thoracic, abdominal, and pelvic cavities

ORGAN WEIGHTS: Yes
adrenals, ovaries, testes with epididymides, kidneys, liver, brain, lungs, heart, spleen


HISTOPATHOLOGY: Yes
abdominal aorta, adrenals, bone, bone marrow, brain, esophagus, eyes, optic nerve, larynx, ovaries, testes with epididymus, heart, kidneys, liver, intestine, gall bladder, lungs, lymph nodes, nerve, skeletal muscle, trachea, nasopharyngeal tissues, pancreas, pituitary, prostate, salivary gland, thymus, spinal cord, seminal vesicles, spleen, skin, stomach, thyroid, urinary bladder, uterus, exorbital lacrimal glands, Zymbal gland
Statistics:
Statistical analysis was done on body weight, body weight gain, change in body weight, food consumption, change in food consumption, hematology, clinical chemistry, organ weights, organ/body and organ/brain weight ratios.

Results and discussion

Results of examinations

Clinical signs:
no effects observed
Mortality:
no mortality observed
Body weight and weight changes:
no effects observed
Food consumption and compound intake (if feeding study):
no effects observed
Food efficiency:
not examined
Water consumption and compound intake (if drinking water study):
not examined
Ophthalmological findings:
no effects observed
Haematological findings:
effects observed, treatment-related
Clinical biochemistry findings:
effects observed, treatment-related
Urinalysis findings:
not examined
Behaviour (functional findings):
not examined
Organ weight findings including organ / body weight ratios:
effects observed, treatment-related
Gross pathological findings:
no effects observed
Histopathological findings: non-neoplastic:
effects observed, treatment-related
Histopathological findings: neoplastic:
not examined
Details on results:
CLINICAL SIGNS AND MORTALITY
No rats died during the study. Transient excess lacrimation was observed in the female rats. No other effects attibutable to exposure were noted.

BODY WEIGHT AND WEIGHT GAIN
Females in the high exposure group had sporadic reduced weight gain. As there was no consistant overall effect, this was not considered treatment related.

FOOD CONSUMPTION
There was no effect on food consumption.


OPHTHALMOSCOPIC EXAMINATION
Two males in the high exposure group showed corneal dystrophy. As this is not uncommon in males of this strain of rat, it is not considered treatment related.

HAEMATOLOGY
There were increased platelets in high exposure males. High and medium exposure males also had increased mean corpuscular volume. The significance of these changes are uncertain.

CLINICAL CHEMISTRY
High exposure males had increased creatinine, total protein, and albumin. They had decreased serum chloride. The significance of these changes are also uncertain.

ORGAN WEIGHTS
High exposure males had increased organ/body and organ/brain weight ratios. High exposure males and females had increased relative spleen weights. Liver weights were also increased in high exposure males. The liver effects appeared to be treatment related.

GROSS PATHOLOGY
No treatment related effects were noted.

HISTOPATHOLOGY: NON-NEOPLASTIC
There was hemorrhage and inflammation in male rat livers at the high dose level. There was also inflammation in the kidneys of males in the high and middle exposure groups. The significance of these effects are uncertain.



Effect levels

open allclose all
Dose descriptor:
NOAEC
Effect level:
2 984 ppm
Sex:
male
Basis for effect level:
other: 10504 mg/m3
Dose descriptor:
LOAEC
Effect level:
8 992 ppm
Sex:
male
Basis for effect level:
other: 31652 mg/m3; liver and kidney effects
Dose descriptor:
NOAEC
Effect level:
8 992 ppm
Sex:
female
Basis for effect level:
other: 31652 mg/m3

Target system / organ toxicity

Critical effects observed:
not specified

Applicant's summary and conclusion

Conclusions:
The NOAEC for male rats exposed via inhalation was 2984 ppm based on liver and kidney effects. The LOAEC for male rats was 8992 ppm. The NOAEC for female rats was 8992 ppm.
Executive summary:

The purpose of this study was to determine the sub-chronic toxicity of commercial hexane via inhalation. Groups of 10 male and 10 female rats were exposed to concentrations of 0, 904, 2984, and 8992 ppm of test substance for 6 hrs/day, 5 days/week, for 13 weeks. During the exposure period, animals were examined for mortality, body weight, clinical signs, opthamological effects, and food consumption. At the end of the exposure period, the animals were sacrificed and examined for hematological parameters, clinical chemistry, gross pathology, organ weights, and histopathology. There was no mortality among the exposed groups, and no treatment related effects to body weight gain. At sacrifice, the only possible treatment related effects were hemorrhage and inflammation in high dose male livers. The significance of this effect is uncertain. The NOAEC for male rats in 2984 ppm, and the LOAEC is 8992 ppm (10504 mg/m3). The NOAEC for female rats in 8992 ppm (31652 mg/m3).