LC50 values for rats acutely exposed to vapors of acrylic and methacrylic acid esters

Abstract

Acute exposure studies were conducted using adult male Sprague-Dawley rats to obtain LC50/24 concentrations for the common esters of acrylic and methacrylic acids. The order of acute toxicity was determined to be methyl acrylate greater than ethyl acrylate greater than butyl acrylate greater than butyl methacrylate greater than methyl methacrylate greater than ethyl methacrylate. Four-hour daily exposures (excluding weekends) of young adult male rats to 110 ppm methyl acrylate in air over a period of 32 d failed to produce significant differences in body or tissue weights, blood chemistries, gross metabolic performance, and spontaneous small-intestinal motor activities when compared with a sham-exposed group.