Abstract
Dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) administered orally to male, Long-Evans, hooded rats, had an acute LD50 in excess of 6500 mg/kg. The intraperitoneal (i.p.) LD50 was 3900 mg/kg. DMT caused no irritation when applied to the depilated skin of guinea pigs nor was it a sensitizer. Animals ingesting 1.0% in the diet for 96 days showed a significant reduction in average body weight accompanied by a, reduced diet efficiency. Dose levels of 0.5 and 0.25% were without effect. Air-borne particles of DMT at concentrations of 16.5 and 86.4 mg/m3 caused no toxicologic adverse effects in Long-Evans hooded rats exposed 4 hours per day for 58 days. The respirable fraction of the total number of aerodynamically sized particles (≤5.0 μm) was 36%. Other statistics recorded in the feeding and inhalation studies were hemograms, blood chemistries, liver and kidney weights and histopathology. A single generation reproduction study revealed no adverse effects on libido, pregnancy, gestation, litter size or on the viability of the young. The pups born to parents fed 0.5 and 1.0% DMT had significantly lower average body weights at weaning when compared to the controls. Animals were randomly selected from all studies to be maintained and observed for the development of any late effects throughout their life span.