New investigations on acute toxicities of vanadium oxides

The “in-vivo”-toxicity of the Vanadium-oxides V2O5 and V2O3 (administered orally, dermally and by inhalation) has been reinvestigated with particular emphasis on the safety and handleability of vanadium-oxides in the vanadium processing industry. Chemical-thermodynamic properties of vanadium-oxides make it likely that some earlier results on vanadium-toxicities have introduced artefacts as a consequence of the administration-techniques used. Special precautions have therefore been taken to avoid any chemical changes or artificial interactions during sample-preparation to ensure that the results significantly reflect the toxicities of the vanadium-compounds as exposure to them might occur. The LD50(14d)-values indicate, that V2O5 should be classified as “hamful” (V2O5 techn. grade fused oral LD50(14d): 716 mg/kg b.w. (rats m.) resp. 658 mg/kg b.w. (rats f.); inhal. LC50 16.2 mg/l (rats m.) resp. 4.0 mg/l (rats f.) for a 4-hour exposure), while V2O3 should be classified as “relatively non toxic” (V2O3 tech. grade powder oral: LD50(14d): 5639 mg/kg b.w. (rats f.) resp. 8713 mg/kg b.w. (rats m.)) according to the EEC-commission directive of July 29, 1983 (83/467/EEC). Based on interaction-studies and considering new results reported in literature, a 3-level-model of the mechanism of vanadium-toxicity via oxygen-radicals is suggested.