TOXICITY OF PURE HEXACHLOROBENZENE AND HCB-CONTAMINATED PORK TO CATS

Swine were fed a diet containing hexachlorobenzene (HCB) in order to generate contaminated pork which was subsequently cooked and fed to female cats. Feeding the fresh weight equivalent of 50 g cooked pork/day/cat (1 < mg HCB/kg/day) caused marginal weight loss. Oral dosing with 10 mg/kg/day purified HCB resulted in significant weight loss, mild anemia, neutropenia and hepatomegaly. Using the residue of HCB accumulating in the cat adipose tissue as the criterion, the low doses in the pork were absorbed and retained about five times more effectively than the larger oral bolus.