The metabolism and distribution of [2,3-C-14]acrolein were studied in a lac
tating goat orally administered 0.82 mg/kg of body weight/day for 5 days. M
ilk, urine, feces, and expired: air were collected. The goat was killed 12
h after the last dose, and edible tissues were collected. The nature of the
radioactive residues was determined in milk and tissues. All of the identi
fied metabolites were the result of the incorporation of acrolein into the
normal, natural products of intermediary metabolism. There was evidence tha
t the three-carbon unit of acrolein was incorporated intact, into glucose,
and subsequently lactose, and into glycerol. In the case of other natural p
roducts, the incorporation of radioactivity appeared to result from the met
abolism of acrolein to smaller molecules followed by incorporation of these
metabolites into the normal biosynthetic pathways.