DDT: the degradation of ring-labeled 14C-DDT to 14CO2 in the rat.

Ring fission of p, p'-DDT was studied in the rat following a single oral dose of 0.74 mg/kg (1.04 muCi) of uniformly ring-labeled 14C-DDT. Expired air was passed through a solution of ethanolamine-ethylene glycol monomethyl ether (1:2) to trap 14CO2. A total of 1.6% of the radioactivity administered was recovered in the expired air collected continually for 10 days, indicating that while degradation of the phenyl moiety is not a major route of p,p'-DDT metabolism in the rat, it is equal to the urinary excretion. Nevertheless, these results represent the most radical change accomplished in vivo of a residual insecticide yet reported in mammals.