The elimination of 3:4-benzpyrene from the animal body after subcutaneous injection

Abstract

EVIDENCE has already been presented [Chalmers, 1940] that 3:4-benzpyrene after intravenous injection of its collodial solution is eliminated from the rat as a derivative having a blue fluorescence in the ultra-violet beam. Spectrographic examination showed that this fluorescence was characteri#ed by two diffuse bands in the blue region of the spectrum. It appears that this fluorescent derivative of benzpyrene is eliminated in the bile and subsequently in the faeces, and to a much smaller extent in the urine. In order to obtain a sufficient quantity of the substance for complete identification, recourse was had to subcutaneous' injections of benzpyrene, using a 1 % solution in olive oil; by this means much larger quantities of the! hydrocarbon could be made available for metabolism than was possible by the intravenous route. That the same derivative was obtained in the exereta as with the former method of injection was shown by the' similarity of the fluorescence spectrum in organic solvents, the solubility in NaOH solution and the selective adsorption on alumina.