EXPOSURE OF RATS TO INORGANIC TIN: BEHAVIORAL AND SYSTEMIC EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT LEVELS AND MODES OF EXPOSURE.

Tin compounds, both organic and inorganic, were administered to six groups of adult male laboratory rats by three different methods of exposure: intraperitoneal injection, drinking water, or stomach gavage. Rats exposed to SnCl//2 via i. p. injections at 6. 67 mg Sn/kg showed statistically significant deficits in the auditory startle habituation tests. Trimethyltin chloride, administered by stomach gavage, was lethal at doses greater than 8 mg Sn/kg within four days after a single exposure. No adverse effects for trimethyltin exposures of less than 4 mg Sn/kg were noted, indicating a very steep dose response curve for this compound.