A critical analysis of the literature base regarding the reproductive and developmental
toxicity of arsenic compounds, with emphasis on inorganic arsenicals, was conducted. The
analysis was stimulated by the great number of papers that have purported to have shown
an association between exposure of pregnant laboratory animals to arsenic compounds and
the occurrence of offspring with cranial neural tube defects, particularly exencephaly. For the
most part, the literature reports of arsenic developmental toxicity in experimental animals are …