THE ACUTE, CHRONIC AND TOPICAL TOXICITY OF ZIRCONIUM CARBONATE

¹ Pharmacologic Research Laboratories of LaWall and Harrisson, Philadelphia, Penna.

Hydrated zirconium carbonate (containing 20.9 per cent ZrO₂) produced no acutely toxic effects when administered to rats orally in doses ranging up to 10 gm. per kgm. of ZrO₂ or intravenously in doses ranging up to 1.5 gm. per kgm. of HZC.

No symptoms of chronic toxicity were exhibited either by albino rats receiving hydrated zirconium carbonate continuously for seventeen weeks in the diet in concentrations as high as 20 per cent, or by kittens continuously ingesting food containing as much as 5 per cent of the compound.

No signs of any untoward systemic effects became evident when an ointment containing 20 per cent of hydrated zirconium carbonate was applied by inunction to the shaved skins of guinea pigs. During this test quantities of the ointment, as high as 8 gm. per kgm. (1.68 gm. of ZrO₂ per kgm.), were massaged into the skin until absorbed.

There was no evidence of sensitization when 0.5 gm. portions of the ointment were applied twelve times to the same area of the shaved skin of albino guinea pigs at weekly intervals.