A Female Rat Fertility Study with Inhaled Benzene

Pure benzene was administered to female rats by inhalation at dose levels of 1, 10, 30, and 300 ppm for 6 h/day. The exposure took place during a 10-week premating period and during mating, gestation, and lactation periods. There was no effect on female reproductive performance. A trend toward reduced body and organ weights was observed in the 21-day-old pups at the 30 and 300 ppm dose levels. Except for reduced body and liver weights in the female pups at 300 ppm, these differences were not statistically significant. Kidney to body weight ratios for female pups were statistically higher than control values in the 10, 30, and 300 ppm exposure levels. These organ weights and organ-to-body weight ratio changes appear to have been reflective of differences in body weights. No treatment-related effects were seen in pup survival during lactation or in the gross postmortem evaluation of these pups on Day 21 of lactation. Thus exposure of dams to levels as high as 300 ppm resulted in only minimal effects on the pups. Study sponsored by U.S. manufacturers of benzene under the auspices of the Chemical Manufacturers Association and American Petroleum Institute (Ref. # BP 3.0).