Organ distribution and nervous system binding of styrene and styrene oxide.

Ten adult male rats were injected intraperitoneally with 460 mumol of styrene oxide with radioactive label. Fifteen similar rats were injected similarly with 577 mumol of styrene. The distribution of styrene in central nervous system, blood, liver, lungs, kidneys and duodenum was studied 3, 6 and 24 h after the injection while the same studies were done with styrene oxide 3 and 6 h after the injection. The liver, brain, kidney and duodenal contents of styrene and styrene oxide were higher than that in blood, lungs and spinal cord while the macromolecule-associated styrene oxide in the central nervous system was small. The removal of injected compounds was slow between 3 and 6 h after the injection in the organ systems although lipid-soluble compounds tended to diminish in brain more rapidly than the total radioactivity.