Short-Term Toxicity (One-and Ten-Day Gavage) of Barium Chloride in Male and Female Rats

To assess adverse effects that might be caused by an event resulting in high levels of barium in drinking water, rats were gavaged with barium chloride (BaCl 2 at dosage levels of 30, 100, and 300 mg/kg in a 1-day study and at 100, 145, 209, and 300 mg/kg for 10 days, and the effects were determined. LD 50 values for male and female rats were found to be 419 (352–499) and 408 (342–487) mg/kg BaCl 2 , respectively. In the 1-day exposure study, decreases in body weight and liver/brain weight ratios and increase in kidney weight as a percentage of body weight appeared to be related to barium ingestion at 300 mg/kg. After 10 days of exposure to barium, survival of females was substantially lower at 300 mg/kg. A reduction in ovaries/brain ratio at 300 mg/kg appeared to be barium-induced. There was a decrease in BUN at 300 mg/kg in males and at all dose levels in females. No other effects were attributed to barium. Histopathological findings were negative in both the 1-and 10-day studies. It is concluded that short-term oral exposure to BaCl 2 at doses up to 209 mg/kg produces no significant adverse health effects.