On the pulmonary tumorigenicity of arsenic trisulfide and calcium arsenate in hamsters.

The pulmonary tumorigenicity of arsenic trisulfide and calcium arsenate was explored following 15 intratracheal instillations in male Syrian golden hamsters at weekly doses of about 3 mg/kg body weight (as arsenic). One lung adenoma appeared in 28 animals examined in the arsenic trisulfide group and 4 adenomas in 35 animals surviving the treatment with calcium arsenate. No adenomas were seen in 26 animals instilled with the vehicle (0.9% saline solution). The results show that calcium arsenate is tumorigenic (P less than 0.05), while the evidence is inconclusive for arsenic trisulfide.