Comparative Acute Inhalation Toxicity of a Saline Suspension and an Ethanol Solution of T-2 Mycotoxin in Mice

Abstract

We compared retention, distribution, toxicity, and histopathological change in mice after exposure to aerosols of T-2 suspended in saline or dissolved in ethanol. We found that the LC₅₀ for mice exposed for 10 min to an aerosol of a saline suspension of T-2 was 0.035 ± 0.02 mg T-2 per liter air, which was lower than the LC₅₀ (0.380 ± 0.08 mg T-2 per liter air) for an aerosol of T-2 dissolved in ethanol. However, within about 15 min postexposure, most of the T-2 deposited in the respiratory tract was translocated from the respiratory tract regardless of whether the T-2 aerosol was from a saline suspension or ethanol solution. Also, although T-2 is an inflammatory agent to dermis and gastrointestinal epithelium, T-2 from either aerosol did not produce any histological evidence of inflammation in the respiratory tract.