Studies on the Male Reproductive Toxicity of Freon 22

Studies on the Male Reproductive Toxicity of Freon 22. Lee,I.P. and Suzuki, K. (1981). Fundam. Appl. Toxicol. 1:266–270Freons have been used extensively as refrigerants and as propellantsin household products, and yet their possible effects on malereproduction have received little attention. In the presentstudy, adult male Sprague-Dawley rats (nine weeks of age) wereexposed to 50 000 ppm Freon 22, five hrs per day for eight weeks.The control group received filtered air at an identical flowrate. At the end of the eight week exposure period, body andorgan weights, hematology, blood chemistry, plasma gonadotropins,and fertility parameters were not significantly different fromcontrols, with the exception of serum cholesterol levels, whichwere slightly higher, and glucose and triglyceride levels whichwere lower. The weight of coagulating glands was also lowerthan those of controls, but did not interfere with fertilityfunction.