Category Archives: Animal Studies

Colnot 2022: Chronic maternal exposure to titanium dioxide nanoparticles alters breathing in newborn offspring

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Particle and Fibre Toxicology, 19:57.  Colnot, Cardoit, Cabirol, … Morin Particles of titanium dioxide (TiO2) are one of the nanomaterials most frequently found in everyday consumer products, including foods.   TiO2 has  long been considered a safe food coloring and … Continue reading

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Jones 2023: Learning and memory deficits produced by aspartame are heritable via the paternal lineage

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Scientific Reports, Aug 31;13(1):14326. Jones, McCarthy, Stanwood, Schatschneider, Bhide Mice who drank the equivalent of only 16 oz to 32 oz of diet soda per day seemed just fine — but their babies weren’t.  Both male and female pups had … Continue reading

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Zhang 2023: The synthetic food dye, Red 40, causes DNA damage, causes colonic inflammation, and impacts the microbiome in mice

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Zhang, Chumanevich, Nguyen, … Hofseth. Toxocology Reports. (11) 221-232 We  have long suggested that Red 40 (Allura Red) plays a role in behavioral problems, but here is another angle: it appears likely that Red 40 is also involved in the … Continue reading

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Savas 2021: Salivary glands of fetuses are adversely affected by artificial food colorings in rats

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Journal of the Brazilian Medical Association:  Revista da Associação Médica Brasileira (1992), 2021 Feb;67(2):287-291. Thirty pregnant rats were given either a mix of nine artificial food dyes or nothing (controls) while pregnant.  The doses given were the “no observed adverse … Continue reading

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Wopara 2021a: Involvement of Striatal Oxido-Inflammatory, Nitrosative and Decreased Cholinergic Activity in Neurobehavioral Alteration in Adult Rat Model with oral Co-Exposure to Erythrosine and Tartrazine

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Wopara, Adebayo, Umoren, … Wodo.  Heliyon, 7. e08454. e-collection, 21 Nov. Don’t let the complex nature of the picture below (or the title above) distress you — what all the fancy words mean is that this study shows that the … Continue reading

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Karimi 2023: Post-Weaning Exposure to Sunset Yellow FCF Induces Changes in Testicular Tight and Gap Junctions in Rats: Protective Effects of Coenzyme Q10

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Reproductive Sciences. 2023 Apr 18. doi: 10.1007/s43032-023-01240-w. Online ahead of print. Karimi, Khodabandeh, Nazari, Dara, Masjedi, Momeni-Moghaddam This study investigates the toxic effects of the food dye Yellow #6 (Sunset Yellow) on rat testicles, and the protective effects of CoQ10. … Continue reading

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Gao 2011: Effect of Food Azo Dye Tartrazine on Learning and Memory Functions in Mice and Rats, and the Possible Mechanisms Involved

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Gao, Li, Shen, Yin, An, Jin.  Journal of Food Science. 76(6): T125-T129. Middle and high Tartrazine (Yellow 5) doses produced learning and memory deficits. Doses are equivalent to 40 and 80 mg/kg for humans, which is far above the ADI. … Continue reading

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Ganeshpurkar 2017: The Pharmacological Potential of Rutin

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Ganeshpurkar, Saluja. Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal. 25, 149-164. This is a comprehensive review of Rutin — a natural-source pharmaceutical that has an almost unbelievable profile of benefits.  It is found in many sources, including passion flowers, apples, and buckwheat (kasha). Prevents … Continue reading

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Doguc 2015: Are There Any Remarkable Effects of Prenatal Exposure to Food Colourings on Neurobehaviour and Learning Process in Rat Offspring?

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Nutritional Neuroscience. 18(1); 12-21.Doguc, Aylak, Ilhan, Kulac, Gultekin. No adverse effects were seen on spatial working memory in the rats, but there was increased motility and anxiety, and decreased motivation with gender differences. Gender differences suggest an effect on different … Continue reading

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Dalal 2010: Involvement of High Plasma Corticosterone Status and Activation of Brain Regional Serotonin Metabolism in Long-Term Erythrosine-Induced Rearing Motor Hyper Activity in Young Adult Male Rats.

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Toxicology Mechanisms & Methods. 20(6):287- 297.  Dalal, Poddar. This study investigated a long-term trial of Erythrosine (Red 3) in rats. 10 – 100 mg/kg/day of Red 3 increased plasma corticosterone levels after several days of administration, similar to pargyline, an … Continue reading

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Abril-Gil 2015: Development and Characterization of an Effective Food Allergy Model in Brown Norway Rats

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PLoS ONE,  10(4): e0126314. Food allergies in children have been increasing in recent decades, so there is a need to create an allergic animal model in order to study this problem.   This is normally accomplished by giving the rats a … Continue reading

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Wopara 2021: Anxiogenic and memory impairment effect of food color exposure: Upregulation of oxido-neuroinflammatory markers and acetyl-cholinesterase activity in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus

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Heliyon 7 (2021) e06378 Various doses of Erythrosine (Red 3) and Tartrazine (Yellow 5) were given to rats for six weeks. At that time, their behavior and ability to recognize objects was evaluated. At the end, their brains were studied … Continue reading

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Wopara 2020: Synthetic food dyes cause testicular damage via up-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and down-regulation of FSH-R and TESTK-1 gene expression

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JBRA Assisted Reproduction.  Online ahead of print Every now and again the rumor surfaces that soda can cause infertility or a lower sperm count.  According to Live Science, this is an urban myth. In fact, they say Mountain Dew (a … Continue reading

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A new collection of studies on the relationship of food dyes to health

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Just finished: a compilation of all the studies I can find on the food dyes used in the US and their connection with behavior and health. Download here(190 pages) This project was created to help the California Office of Environmental … Continue reading

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Khayyat 2017: Tartrazine induces structural and functional aberrations and genotoxic effects in vivo

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PeerJ. 2017 Feb 23;5: e3041. This study was done to evaluate the possible adverse effects of the color Tartrazine (Yellow 5) on kidney and liver function and structure in rats, as well as its affect on white blood cells.  For … Continue reading

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Rafati 2017: Using vitamin E to prevent the impairment in behavioral test, cell loss and dendrite changes in medial prefrontal cortex induced by tartrazine in rats

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Acta Histochemica. 2017 March; 119(2): 172-180 The authors used a rat model to answer the following questions: Does exposure to tartrazine (Yellow 5)  influence the rats’ memory and learning? Does the tartrazine exposure have any effects on the volume of … Continue reading

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Bataineh 2006: Impact of 12-week ingestion of sodium fluoride on aggression, sexual behavior, and fertility in adult male rats

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Fluoride, 39 (4), 293-301. Giving adult male rats 100 ppm and 300 ppm (parts per million) of sodium fluoride in their drinking water for 12 weeks resulted in less testosterone, fewer (and weaker) sperm, less aggressive behavior, and less successful … Continue reading

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Sasaki 2002: The comet assay with 8 mouse organs: Results with 39 currently used food additives

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Mutation Research. 2002 Aug 26; 519(1-2): 103-19. Sasaki et al, in Japan, tested 39 common food additives — dyes, color fixatives, preservatives, antioxidants, fungicides, and sweeteners.   They gave each additive separately by mouth to groups of four male mice, and … Continue reading

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Li 2016: Pigeons home faster through polluted air

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Scientific Reports, 2016 Jan 5;6:18989. Air pollution is good for something …. if you are a pigeon racer.  It seems that in northern China, homing pigeons fly home lots faster through polluted air. The authors say it isn’t yet clear … Continue reading

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Umezawa 2012: Effect of fetal exposure to titanium dioxide nanoparticle on brain development – brain region information

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The Journal of Toxicological Sciences, Vol. 37, No. 6, 1247-1252. 2012 By studying the brains of mice whose mothers were exposed to titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles during pregnancy, the researchers determined changes in gene expression affecting several parts of the … Continue reading

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Kubo-Irie 2016: The transfer of titanium dioxide nanoparticles from the host plant to butterfly larvae through a food chain

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Scientific Reports, 2016 March 31;6:23819 The purpose of this study was to better  understand how the widely used titanium dioxide may impact the environment.  The researchers used swallowtail butterfly larvae which were hatched on plants growing in water containing titanium … Continue reading

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Mansouri 2016: Histopathological effects following short-term coexposure of Cyprinus carpio to nanoparticles of TiO2 and CuO

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Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. (2016) 188:575 This Swiss study looks at the effect of two kinds of nanoparticles, separately and combined.  Both copper oxide (CuO) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) ultrafine particles (nanoparticles or NP) are widely used in many things … Continue reading

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Jovanovic 2016: Food web effects of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in an outdoor freshwater mesocosm experiment.

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Nanotoxicology. 2016 Sep;10(7):902-12. In this study, 25 µg/L and 250 µg/L of the food color additive titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles were added to outdoor mesocosms* placed in a lake.  The control mesocosm was not treated with any TiO2. * A … Continue reading

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Ze 2014: Neurotoxicity and gene-expressed profile in brain-injured mice caused by exposure to titanium dioxide nanoparticles

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Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A. 2014 Feb; 102(2): 470-8. Titanium dioxide is a naturally occurring white powder approved by the FDA.  It is used as a white coloring in many products we use every day such as toothpaste, … Continue reading

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El-Wahab 2013: Toxic effects of some synthetic food colorants and/or flavor additives on male rats

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Toxicology and Industrial Health, 2013.  March; 29(2): 224-32.  doi: 10.1177/0748233711433935 The researchers wanted to evaluate the toxic effect of some synthetic colorants and/or flavors on body organs and metabolism in rats.   They used 10 groups of 10 male albino rats … Continue reading

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Ishihara 1979: Experimental investigation on the pathogenesis of tartrazine-induced asthma

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Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine, 1979. Nov; 129(3): 303-9. In this study on guinea pigs, the researchers showed that the dye Yellow 5 potentiates asthmatic reactions to other broncho-constrictors. In other words, the dye may not cause an asthma attack … Continue reading

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Goldenring 1980: Effects of continuous gastric infusion of food dyes on developing rat pups.

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Life Sciences. 1980 Nov 17;27(20):1897-904. In this study, some rats were treated with 6-OHDA and some were treated with placebo.  In each of these groups, some were given food dyes and some were given placebo, resulting in 4 groups of … Continue reading

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Saxena 2015: Food Color Induced Hepatotoxicity in Swiss Albino Rats, Rattus norvegicus

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Toxicology International. 2015 Jan-Apr; 22(1): 152–157. This study was done to see if the common food colors tartrazine (Yellow 5), metanil yellow (a non-permitted color often used illegally) and sunset yellow (Yellow 6) may play a part in liver disease. … Continue reading

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Ceyhan 2013: Effects of maternally exposed coloring food additives on receptor expressions related to learning and memory in rats.

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Food and Chemical Toxicology, 2013 Jun;56:145-8. In a study of rats, the authors found that exposing them to food dyes before birth changed the expression of certain receptors when they grew up.  The particular receptors (NMDAR and nAChR) are involved … Continue reading

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Doguc 2013: Effects of maternally exposed colouring food additives on cognitive performance in rats

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Toxicology and Industrial Health, 2013. Aug; 29(7): 616-23.  Doguc, Ceyhan, Ozturk, Gultekin In this study, pregnant rats were given the ADI (Acceptable Daily Intake) amounts of the following food dyes by mouth, continuing to do so after the babies were … Continue reading

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Husarova 2013: Monosodium glutamate toxic effects and their implications for human intake: A review

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JMED Research, Vol. 2013 (2013) This is a review of the studies about MSG and its influence on different systems in humans.  Effects of injected MSG into rats included neuron damage, and prefrontal cerebral cortex changes, but such tests cannot … Continue reading

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Kamel 2011: The Potential Health Hazard of Tartrazine and Levels of Hyperactivity, Anxiety-Like Symptoms, Depression and Anti-social behaviour in Rats

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Journal of American Science, 2011; 7 (6): 1211-1218. This paper from Egypt describes a double-blind controlled study on rats to determine the behavioral effects of long-term exposure to various doses of tartrazine (E102, Yellow 5) provided in the drinking water … Continue reading

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Reyes 1996: Effect of organic synthetic food colours on mitochondrial respiration

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Food Additives and Contaminants, 1996. Jan;13(1):5-11 In this lab study, 11 artificial food dyes – not all of them used in the US — were tested to determine their effect on the mitochondria of rat liver and kidney. NOTE:  Mitochondria … Continue reading

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Goldenring 1982: Sulfanilic acid: behavioral change related to azo food dyes in developing rats

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Neurobehavioral Toxicology and Teratology, 1982. Jan-Feb;4(1): 43-9. Goldenring studied the effects of giving sulfanilic acid to rat pups.  He chose this chemical because it is formed when azo food dyes are digested.  He gave the sulfanilic acid to normal rat … Continue reading

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Lafferman 1979: Erythrosin B inhibits dopamine transport in rat caudate synaptosomes.

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Science. 1979. July 27; 205 (4404): 410-2. Lafferman found that erythrosin B [Red 3] given to rats prevents the uptake of dopamine (the “feel good” neurotransmitter) by nerve cells in the brain called the caudate synaptosomes.  This is consistent with … Continue reading

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Shaywitz 1979: Effects of chronic administration of food colorings on activity levels and cognitive performance in developing rat pups treated with 6-hydroxydopamine

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Neurobehavioral Toxicology, 1979.  Spring;1(1):41-7.  (Today called Neurotoxicology and Teratology) In a study on rat pups, the highest dose of food dyes caused the greatest activity.  Even after a half hour, the pups only calmed down by 7.25% — while the … Continue reading

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