Distribution and elimination of (14C)-2-ethylhexyl acrylate radioactivity in rats.

The fate of (14C)-2-ethylhexyl acrylate was studied in adult male Wistar rats given an intravenous (i.v.) or intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of 10 mg/kg (0.054 mmol/kg). The elimination of radioactivity from blood was bi-exponential, irrespective of the route of (14C)-2-EHA administration or the age (weight) of the rats. The first phase half-lives after i.v. and i.p. administration in 4-month-old rats were 30 and 60 min, in 7-month-old rats 115 and 130 min, respectively. The corresponding values for the slow-phase were 5 and 6 h, and 14 and 14 h. Elimination of the radioactivity from tissues followed a pattern similar to that seen for blood. More than half of the administered radioactivity was exhaled as carbon dioxide. Exhalation of unchanged (14C)-2-EHA accounted for only 0.05% (i.v.) or 0.3% (i.p.) of the initial dose of radioactivity. The radioactivity excreted in the urine within the first 24 h post-treatment accounted for 7% (i.p.) or 14% (i.v.) of the initial dose, and only 2% was excreted as thioethers.