Acute toxicity of benzalkonium chloride in Balb/c mice following intratracheal instillation and oral administration

Benzalkonium chloride is a cationic surfactant widely used as a disinfectant, preservative, and sanitizer in many public places as well as domestically. The purpose of this study is to compare the acute toxicity of lethal doses (LD(x)) and the target organs after intratracheal instillation and oral ingestion by mice, which is a preliminary test prior to the repeated dose toxicity test. When Balb/c mice were treated with a single dose of benzalkonium chloride via oral administration, LD(50) was 241.7 mg/kg. However, it was comparatively decreased to 8.5 mg/kg following intratracheal treatment, which suggests that lung may be the main target of toxicity. Although the histopathology showed inflammatory responses in the lung after intratracheal instillation, it still did not confirm that the inflammatory responses were the key factors inducing death in the treated animal. Acute and fatal mechanisms such as bronchoconstriction or neurotoxicity associated with benzalkonium chloride exposure should be further investigated.