Abstract
Didecyldimethylammonium chloride (DDAC) is used for various purposes, such as a fungicide for coolants, an antiseptic for wood, and disinfectant for cleaning. Despite the increasing likelihood of DDAC inhalation, available data on its toxicity from inhalation are scarce. Therefore, this study was aimed at confirming the toxicity of DDAC after inhalation exposure for 2 wk. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to approximately 0.15 mg/m3, 0.6 mg/m3, and 3.6 mg/m3 DDAC aerosols in whole-body exposure chambers. After DDAC exposure for 2 wk, effects of DDAC on body weight, blood, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), and the lungs were verified. The mass median aerodynamic diameter of DDAC aerosols was 1.86 µm and the geometric standard deviation was 2.75. The concentrations of DDAC aerosols for the low, medium, and high groups were 0.15 ± 0.15 mg/m3, 0.58 ± 0.40 mg/m3, and 3.63 ± 1.56 mg/m3, respectively. Body weight gain was significantly influenced by DDAC exposure. In the high group, a body weight decrease of 2.6 g was observed, whereas a 25.8 g increase was observed in the normal control group after the first 3 days. The low and medium groups showed 23.3 g and 20.4 g increases, respectively, after the first 3 days. Decreases in body weight were recovered during the next 4 days. In contrast, no changes were noted in hematological and blood biochemistry parameters after DDAC exposure. Furthermore, only mild effects were observed on bronchoalveolar cell differentiation counts and cell damage parameters in the BAL fluids of the medium and high groups. Although inflammatory cell infiltration and interstitial pneumonia were partially observed, fibrosis was not found in the lungs of the medium and high groups. In conclusion, body weight gain and the lungs were mainly affected by DDAC exposure. The noobserved-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) for DDAC was determined as 0.15 mg/m3.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Find the latest articles, discoveries, and news in related topics.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
European Union (2012) Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 of the European parliament and of the council of 22 May 2012 concerning the making available on the market and use of biocidal products, Annex V. Official Journal of the European Union, pp. 105–107.
United States Environmental Protection Agency (2011) Pesticide registration manual: Chapter 4 - Additional considerations for antimicrobial products. Updated August 2011. http://www.epa.gov/opprd001/registrationmanual/ Assessed 11 April 2014.
Kim, K.W., Ahn, K., Yang, H.J., Lee, S., Park, J.D., Kim, W.K., Kim, J.T., Kim, H.H., Rha, Y.H., Park, Y.M., Sohn, M.H., Oh, J.W., Lee, H.R., Lim, D.H., Choung, J.T., Han, M.Y., Lee, E., Kim, H.Y., Seo, J.H., Kim, B.J., Cho, Y.A., Do, K.H., Kim, S.A., Jang, S.J., Lee, M.S., Kim, H.J., Kwon, G.Y., Park, J.H., Gwack, J., Youn, S.K., Kwon, J.W., Jun, B.Y., Pyun, B.Y. and Hong, S.J. (2014) Humidifier disinfectant-associated children’s interstitial lung disease. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., 189, 48–56.
Yang, H.J., Kim, H.J., Yu, J., Lee, E., Jung, Y.H., Kim, H.Y., Seo, J.H., Kwon, G.Y., Park, J.H., Gwack, J., Youn, S.K., Kwon, J.W., Jun, B.Y., Kim, K.W., Ahn, K., Lee, S.Y., Park, J.D., Kwon, J.W., Kim, B.J., Lee, M.S., Do, K.H., Jang, S.J., Pyun, B.Y. and Hong, S.J. (2013) Inhalation toxicity of humidifier disinfectants as a risk factor of children’s interstitial lung disease in Korea: a case-control study. PLoS One, 8, e64430.
The Korean Society of Environmental health and Toxicology (2011) Environmental and Toxicology Forum Report on Humidifier Biocide, Seoul, Korea.
United States Environmental Protection Agency (2006) Reregistration eligibility decision for aliphatic alkyl quaternaries (DDAC), EPA739-R-06-008. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., pp. 1–37.
United State Environmental Protection Agency (2006) Draft Didecyl Dimethly Ammonium Chloride (DDAC) Risk Assessment, Office of Pesticide Programs Antimicrobials Division, V.A., pp. 9–32.
Ohnuma, A., Yoshida, T., Tajima, H., Fukuyama, T., Hayashi, K., Yamaguchi, S., Ohtsuka, R., Sasaki, J., Fukumori, J., Tomita, M., Kojima, S., Takahashi, N., Takeuchi, Y., Kuwahara, M., Takeda, M., Kosaka, T., Nakashima, N. and Harada, T. (2010) Didecylmethylammonium chloride induces pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis in mice. Exp. Toxicol. Pathol., 62, 643–651.
Yang, J.S., Choi, S.B., Park, S.Y. and Lee, S.B. (2012) Analysis of didecyldimethylammonium chloride (DDAC) aerosol in inhalation chamber. Anal. Sci. Technol., 25, 307–312.
Ministry of Environment (2007) 3rd Report on circulating chemical list, Korea Ministry of Environmental Protection, Seoul, Korea.
European Chemical Agency (2014) Registered substances, http://echa.europa.eu/web/guest/information-on-chemicals/registered-substances Assessed 11 April 2014.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
About this article
Cite this article
Lim, CH., Chung, YH. Effects of Didecyldimethylammonium Chloride on Sprague-Dawley Rats after Two Weeks of Inhalation Exposure. Toxicol Res. 30, 205–210 (2014). https://doi.org/10.5487/TR.2014.30.3.205
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5487/TR.2014.30.3.205