Design and development of whole-body rodent inhalation chamber for exposure to Aroclor 1232 in Swiss albino mice

The development of whole-body inhalational chambers for acute toxicity risk assessment of aerosols in rodents is of key importance in clinical and occupational hazard evaluations. The key aim of study is the design, development, optimization, and validation of an inhalational chamber using water aerosol, vehicle, and Aroclor 1232. The second goal has been to apply this chamber in the risk assessment of Aroclor 1232. Broncho-alveolar Lavage fluid cytology and chromatography, and lung histopathology were used to supplement the validation process. PCB concentrations were uniformly distributed across different places inside the chamber and a MMAD generation of 4.3 µm ± 1.7 µm GSD was suggestive of lower airway atomization of PCB particles. The chamber environmental parameters were within acceptable limits for rodents during the experimental procedures. Mouse behavioral alterations were minimal during water aerosolization. Acute exposure to Aroclor 1232 showed reproducibility of behavioral scores. Benchmark dose for further studies using Aroclor 1232 was derived at 4 mg/cu.m. Its toxicities could be verified by correlating the behavioral scores, neurobehavioral functions with concentrations in plasma and BAL fluid samples from Swiss albino mice. The rodent chamber can be utilized for risk assessment of occupational hazards such as complex pollutant mixtures and particulate matter aerosols. The inhalational chamber possesses the versatility to enable assessment of toxicological mixtures across sub-acute toxicity timelines.