Metabolic fate of hexabromobenzene in rats.

To study the metabolic fate of hexabromobenzene (HBB) in female rats, the substance was administered in oral doses of 16.6 mg/kg body weight every other day for 2 weeks and the animals' excreta were examined for metabolites. Unchanged HBB, pentabromobenzene, oxygen- and sulphur-containing metabolites were detected in feces and urine. The sulphur-containing substances contained free mercapto groups except for the presence in feces of a methylmercapto derivative. The amount of sulphur-containing metabolites was estimated to be 15 times greater than that of oxygen-containing compounds. The relative proportions of the unchanged compound and its metabolites in the excreta were about 1:4.