Study of subchronic inhalation toxicity of formaldehyde on the ovary of adult female albino rats

ABSTRACT

In the present work 20 adult female albino rats were used, 6 rats were used as a control and 14 rats were exposed to 6 ppm formaldehyde inhalation for 4 weeks. The exposure was for 6 hours/day, 5 days/week. A special apparatus was used to ensure a uniform dose and to avoid ambient hypoxia. All animals were maintained on balanced diet throughout the experiment. The ovaries were extracted at the end of the experiment for light microscopic examination. Degeneration and fibrosis observed in the present study may affect the fertility of female albino rats but no evidence that formaldehyde was precancerous or carcinogenic to the rat ovary