Induction of liver tumor in Sherman strain female rats by polychlorinated biphenyl aroclor 1260.

Sherman strain female rats (200) were fed 100 ppm of polychlorinated biphenyl (Aroclor 1260) for apporximately 21 months, and 200 female rats were kept as controls. The rats were killed when 23 months old. Twenty-six of 184 experimental animals and 1 of 173 controls had hepatocellular carcinomas. None of the controls but 146 of 184 experimental rats had neoplastic nodules in their livers, and areas of hepatocellular alteration were noted in 28 of 173 controls and 182 of 184 experimental animals. Thus the polychlorinated biphenyl Aroclor 1260, when fed in the diet, had a hepatocarcinogenic effect in these rats. The incidence of tumors in other organs did not differ appreciably between the experimental and control groups.