Toxicity Profile for Toluene-2,6-diamine (and its dihydrochloride salt) (1995)

Abstract

The acute oral toxicity of toluene-2,6-diamine (2,6-TDA) or its dihydrochloride salt was moderate in rats but (based on a single study) high in mice. Repeated oral administration of the dihydrochloride to rats affected various organs including the thyroid gland, bone marrow, heart and liver, while similar studies in mice revealed heart, liver and uterus abnormalities. There was no conclusive evidence of carcinogenic activity in 2-yr feeding studies in rats and mice (again with the dihydrochloride). In genotoxicity tests in rodents, however, 2,6-TDA or its dihydrochloride induced chromosomal and DNA damage after intraperitoneal injection or oral dosing, while various assays in mammalian cells were similarly positive. Mutagenic activity was evident in Ames bacterial tests. Reproductive effects amongst small numbers of workers exposed to an unspecified isomer of TDA and to dinitrotoluene were not confirmed by subsequent studies in larger groups of exposed workers.