Delayed mortality of mice following inhalation of acute doses of CH2O, SO2Cl2, and Br2.

Mortalities and times of death of mice were measured, during several weeks, after single respiratory exposures to air containing either of the 4 chemicals. The toxicity sequence observed, at 320 ppm, was Cl2 greater than Br2 greater than CH2O greater than SO2. For CH2O and Br2 at constant concentration, time of death depended markedly on exposure duration. The scant literature data enabled comparison of results for SO2 only.