Acute toxicity of the water chlorination byproduct (chloroform) in male mice

Drinking water disinfection has been one of the biggest advances in public health. However, animal studies have suggested that when tested at high concentrations, certain disinfection byproducts disinfection (DBPs) in drinking water can cause an increased incidence of cancer and reproductive effects. In this study, sixty male white mice were kept under the laboratory conditions, divided into six exposure groups and administrated with single oral dose 0, 50, 300, 700, 1000 or 1500 mg/kg BW chloroform dissolves in corn oil as a vehicle. Clinical observations and gross pathologic examination made after dosing on surviving died, and animals that were killed on the 7th day. At end of 14 days, animal weights were recorded, liver and kidneys removed, weigh and examined with the naked eye then it was fixed in 10% Neutral Buffered Formalin (NBF), transfer to 70% ethanol and included in paraffin. Tissue parts were cut 4-5 µm soiled with hematoxylin and eosin. Clinical signs observed at high doses consisted of behavioral effects, reduced body weight, livers and kidneys were congested, enlarged and their weights increased. Liver damage was characterized mainly through centrilobular necrosis and massive necrosis at higher doses. The kidney damage containing raised kidney weight, inflammation, renal cell proliferation and proximal tubular necrosis. Lethal dose causes death in 50% of exposed animals (LD50) value calculated by the probit analysis was 550 mg/kg Body Weight (BW).