Effects of prenatal triphenyl-tin exposure on the development of behavior and conditioned learning in rat pups.

Neurotoxic effects of the fungicide triphenyl-tin acetate were examined in pups of mothers treated perorally on day 7-15 of gestation. The gait and development of motor coordination did not differ from those of control animals, in spite of the high mortality rate of control pups during the nursing period. Spontaneous locomotor activity of treated pups at the age of 23 and 36 days was increased, however by the age of 90 days activity returned to control levels. Conditioned avoidance was acquired more rapidly, but was also extinguished sooner in animals born from, the nursed by poisoned mothers than in control.