Subchronic toxicity study of 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol administered by drinking water to B6C3F1 mice.

3-Monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) is a food processing contaminant in a wide range of foods and ingredients and is a suspected cause of cancer. In this study, the 13-week toxicity of 3-MCPD was examined in B6C3F1 mice (10/sex/group) administered 3-MCPD doses of 0, 5, 25, 100, 200 and 400 ppm dissolved in their drinking water over a 13-week period. All the mice survived to the end of study. The mean body weight gains in the males and females given 400 ppm were significantly lower than those of the controls. The relative kidney weights of the males and females given 200 and 400 ppm were significantly higher than those of the controls without any corresponding histopathological changes. The sperm motility was lower in the 400 ppm group than the control, and there was a significant increase in the incidence of germinal epithelium degeneration in the 200 and 400 ppm groups. A delayed total estrus cycle length was observed in the 400 ppm group without any histopathological changes. Based on these results, the target organ was determined to be kidney, testis, and ovary. The no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) was found to be 100 ppm (18.05 mg/kg/day for males and 15.02 mg/kg/day for females).