Placental and mammary transfer of a polychlorinated biphenyl mixture (aroclor 1254) in the European Ferret (Mustela putorius furo)

摘要

AbstractAdult female ferrets were found to absorb 85.4 of a single dietary dose of the polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) mixture Aroclor 1254. Excretion in the days immediately following dosing yielded the greatest quantity of PCBs eliminated in a given time period. In general, urinary excretion represented one‐tenth or less of the PCBs excreted via the feces. Placental transfer to the ferret kits was 0.01 (per kit) of the female's absorbed dose when exposure occurred during the first trimester of pregnancy and 0.04 (per kit) when the PCBs were administered during the third trimester. Transplacental exposure to PCBs was considerably less than that reaching the kits through the dam's milk. The ratio of placental to mammary transfer, following 1 week of lactation, was calculated to be approximately 1:15 for the offspring of first‐trimester‐dosed females and 1:7 for the offspring produced by females treated during the third trim