The acute toxicity of barium sulfate administered intragastrically.

Intragastric administration of barium sulfate to albino rats did not produce deaths until the dose reached 25% to 40% of body weight. Death was due to stomach rupture or to bowel obstruction followed by gastrointestinal hemorrhage and generalized arteriovenous thromboses which produced further toxic changes in many body organs. Barium sulfate does not appear to be a factor of significance in the acute toxicity of tannic acid-barium sulfate formulations used in diagnostic radiology.