Abstract
The acute oral and intraperitoneal toxicity of zirconium lactate and barium zirconate were investigated in the rat. The oral LD50 dose was greater than 10.0 g/kg for zirconium lactate and 1.98 g/kg for barium zirconate. The corresponding intraperitoneal LD50 doses were 0.67 and 0.42 g/kg Groups of 10 guinea pigs, 10 rats, and 10 hamsters were exposed for a period of 225 days to either 15 or 150 mg/m8 of zirconium lactate, to 15 mg/m3 of barium zirconate or to room air. Animals exposed to the chemicals showed poor weight gain, pathological changes consistent with a chronic interstitial pneumonitis, very little deposition of fibrous tissue, no granuloma, and an increase in the zirconium content of the lung tissue.
