Toxicity Profile for Terephthalic acid (1995)

Abstract

Limited data indicate terephthalic acid to be an eye irritant in rabbits and mild skin irritant in man. A moderate to low acute oral toxicity was seen in rats and mice. Repeated oral administration to rats principally produced urinary tract stones and damage to the urinary tract, whilst in chickens it apparently caused testes damage and effects on the pituitary and thyroid. Tumours of the urinary tract (bladder and ureter) developed in rats in long-term oral studies. Feeding the acid to pregnant rats decreased pup survival at doses toxic to the mother; no reproductive toxicity was seen in mice. Ames bacterial tests gave no evidence of mutagenicity. Chromosomal damage was not induced in mammalian cells in culture, but an English abstract of a Soviet study reported positive results in mice treated by intraperitoneal injection.