Estimation of acute oral toxicity in rats by determination of the approximate lethal dose rather than the LD50.

The approximate lethal dose (ALD) to rats following oral administration of nine chemicals was determined. The ALD (lowest dose at which death was produced) for each chemical was used to define the general order of toxicity as being either extremely, highly, moderately, slightly, or practically non-toxic. For each of the nine chemicals tested, the category indicated by the ALD was identical with the category determined in the more extensive LD50 studies. In this study, an average of 6.8 rats was needed to determine the ALD while an average of 56.3 rats was needed to determine the LD50.