ABSTRACT
An evaluation of the data up to 1981 dealing with various measures of mammalian toxicity as indicators of potential human safety as well as actual human exposure indicate that alkylphenol ethoxylates (APE) do not represent a hazard to human health. Studies of various APE surfactants, administered by gavage to rats, rabbits, guinea pigs, and mice indicate that these materials are practically nontoxic to slightly toxic according to the ranking of R.E. Gosselin et al. In order to further study the cardiotoxicity of APE in dogs and eliminate the possibility that an impurity was present in the commercial product previously studied, one male and one female Beagle dog were fed different commercial products of various chain length. APE surfactants and nonylphenol are non-genotoxic when tested for mutations or genetic damage in a variety of in vitro and in vivo test systems.
