Retinoic acid metabolism was examined in microsomes prepared from four retinoid target tissues of male Sprague-Dawley rats removed 3 days after a single exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD, 5 or 80 micrograms/kg, ip). Microsomes from all four tissues catalyzed increased rates of retinoic acid metabolism, with the degree of induction following the order: liver > lung = kidney = testis. The responses were tissue-specific with respect to the metabolites affected, the effects of dose, and the substrate used, [3H]retinoic acid or [3H]retinoic acid bound with cellular retinoic acid-binding protein. For example, neither 4-hydroxy- nor 18-hydroxy-retinoic acid increased in testis; 4-hydroxy- but not 18-hydroxy-retinoic acid increased in liver; and both 4-hydroxy- and 18-hydroxy-retinoic acid increased in kidney and lung. This ability of TCDD to affect diverse retinoic acid metabolites in multiple tissues, including those from a physiologically relevant substrate, holocellular retinoic-acid binding protein, strengthens the possibility that one aspect of TCDD toxicity involves altering the metabolism of retinoic acid.