Effect of Gasohol on The Rat Liver

Abstract Although there are a variety of gasoline ethanol mixtures proposed as neat fuels (ethanol 85% + gasoline 15% = E85; E95) for automobiles, gasohol (gasoline 90% + ethanol 10%) is presently used as a fuel in the United States. The adverse effects, if any, of gasohol ingestion are unknown; effects on the liver of rats administered gasohol are examined in this study. Twenty-four female Sprague-Dawley rats received daily, via gavage, one of the three concentrations of gasohol for 28 days; LD50/20, LD50/100 and LD50/1000, where LD50 = 1.5g ethanol / kg body weight (bw) and 14g gasoline / kg bw. The LD50 was based on that of gasoline, which was obtained from literature value.1 The amount of ethanol added to stock gasohol was only 1/10 its LD50, required to maintain the gasoline ethanol proportion of 9:1. Gasohol was administered in corn oil with total volume 10 ml. Animals that received only corn oil served as controls.