Preliminary Behavioral Assessment of Habituation to the Insecticide Permethrin, August to October 1978,

Abstract

Behavioral observations of immature male rats showed that they habituated to inhalation of permethrin aerosols. Habituation was carried out by exposing three groups of five rats to aerosols of permethrin for 21 days at 500 mg/cu m, followed immediately by exposure to 1,000 mg/cu m for an additional 21 days. Three groups of five rats each were not exposed but lived in identical housing. At the end of this period, all rats (both habituated and control) were given one 4-hour exposure to 5,000 mg/cu m. At the end of the 500 and 1,000 mg/cu m habituation period, there were no differences in retention of avoidance training. There were also no differences in the ability of five other exposed and five control rats to learn the same task. However, after the 5,000 mg/cu m exposure, a third unhabituated group showed significantly worse retention than the simultaneously exposed habituated rats and did significantly worse than on preexposure performances. These nonhabituated rats also showed decreases in coordination and balance and an increase in conflict behavior and tremors. No similar changes were shown by the habituated group. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 1978
Accession Number
ADA068700

Entities

People

  • Richard A. Sherman

Organizations

  • United States Army Medical Command

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Central Nervous System
  • Chemical Compounds
  • Dermatologic Agents
  • Experimental Design
  • Health Services
  • Human Behavior
  • Hygiene
  • Insecticides
  • Learning
  • Malathion
  • Nervous System
  • New York
  • Observation
  • Pest Control
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Training
  • United States

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Brain and Cognitive Science; Experimental Psychology; Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Toxicology/Environmental Toxicology