Extract from report:
Special studies on the protective effect in vivo Groups each of 60 FAF, male mice were maintained on semi- synthetic diets containing 0,0.25 or 0.5% BHT. The mean life-span of the test animals was significantly greater than controls, being 17.0?5.0 and 20.9?4.7 months respectively for the 0.25% or 0.5% BHT, as compared to 14.5?4.6 months for controls (Harman, 1968). Groups each of 20 male and 20 female Charles River rats were maintained on test diets (males 24 weeks, females 36 weeks) containing BHT and/or carcinogen. (N-2-fluorenylacetamide or N-hydroxy-N-2- fluorenylacetamide) in the molar ratio of 30:1, equivalent to 6600 ppm (0.66%) BHT, then continued on control diets for another 12 weeks. The N-2-fluorenylacetamide alone resulted in hepatomas in 70% of the male rats, mammary adenocarcinoma in 20% of the females. With N-hydroxy-N-2-fluorenylacetamide 60% of the males had hepatomas and 70% of the females had mammary adenocarcinoma. BHT reduced the incidence of hepatomas in males to 20% when the carcinogen was N-2-fluorenylacetamide, and to 15% (hepatomas in males), when N-hydroxyl-N-2-fluorenylacetamide was the test compound. Similar results were obtained with Fischer strain rats. Liver and oesophageal- tumour production with diethylnitrosamines (55 ppm (0.0055%)) in drinking water for 24 weeks was not affected by BHT (Ulland et al., 1973).
Link to entire WHO report here: http://www.inchem.org/documents/jecfa/jecmono/v05je23.htm
