Effects of the plasticiser DEHP on lung of newborn rats: catalase immunocytochemistry and morphometric analysis.

Experimental administration of di-(2-ethylexyl)-phthalate (DEHP), a plasticiser employed in the fabrication of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), causes increases in lipid metabolising enzymes along with marked peroxisomal proliferation. The effects are found in several mammalian tissues, of which the rodent liver is the most responsive target. Leakage of DEHP from PVC devices is favoured by high temperature and contact with lipid-containing biological fluids.