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Original Articles

An Organotin Mixture Found in Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Pipe is not Immunotoxic to Adult Sprague-Dawley Rats

, &
Pages 276-282
Received 04 Apr 2007
Accepted 30 May 2007
Published online: 05 Feb 2008

Organotin compounds used in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe production are of concern to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) because they leach from supply pipes into drinking water and are reported multisystem toxicants. Immune function was assessed in male Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to the mixture of organotins used in PVC pipe production. Although several of these organotins are reported immunotoxicants, their immunotoxicity as a mixture when given by drinking water has not been evaluated. Adult male rats were given drinking water for 28 d containing a mixture of dibutyltin dichloride (DBTC), dimethyltin dichloride (DMTC), monobutyltin trichloride (MBT), and monomethyltin trichloride (MMT) in a 2:2:1:1 ratio, respectively, at 3 different concentrations (5:5:2.5:2.5, 10:10:5:5, or 20:20:10:10 mg organotin/L), MMT alone (20 or 40 mg MMT/L), or plain water as a control. Delayed-type hypersensitivity, antibody synthesis, and natural killer cell cytotoxicity were evaluated in separate endpoint groups (n = 8/dose; 24/endpoint) immediately after exposure ended. The evaluated immune functions were not affected by the mixture or by MMT alone. Our data suggest that immunotoxicity is unlikely to result from the concentration of organotins present in drinking water delivered via PVC pipes, as the concentrations used were several orders of magnitude higher than those expected to leach from PVC pipes.

This report has been reviewed by the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Research and Development, and approved for publication. Approval does not signify that the contents necessarily reflect the views and policies of the agency, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.

We thank Debora Andrews, Justin Bradshaw, Helen Carlsen, and Wanda Williams for technical assistance and Drs. Linda Birnbaum, John Lipscomb, Cherie Pucheu-Haston, and MaryJane Selgrade for their review of the article and helpful suggestions. Support was provided in part by UNC/EPA Cooperative Training Agreement number CT829472.

 

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