Mineral Oil in the Diet Enhances Fecal Excretion of DDT in the Rhesus Monkey

Seven days after dosing of two rhesus monkeys with 14C-DDT (50 mg/kg) per os, one monkey was put on a diet containing 5% mineral oil for 35 days, whereas the other animal served as control. During 5 weeks both urinary and fecal excretion of radioactivity was more than doubled in the treated as compared to the untreated animal. At the end of the treatment, concentration of DDT in adipose tissue of the mineral oil treated animal was about half of that found in the control. The data represent further support of previous reports that mineral oil reduces body burdens of refractory lipophilic chemicals.