Objective   To study effects on development and behavior, learning and memory in the offspr ing of rats induced by arsenite through drinking water.

  Methods   wister rats were exposed to arsenit e(10, 50, 100 mg/L, respectively in drinking water)from gestation day 6 until F1 pups 42 days old.F1 pups were examined to observe the impact of arsenite on the early physiological, neurobehavioral, learning and memory.

  Results   the stature and weight of F1 pups in group of 100 mg/LiAs were lower than in control after postnatal day 12.But other physiologic markers(eye opening, pinna detachment, hair growth, tooth growth, et al)were not affected by iAs exposure.In contrast to the control group, visual placing, acoustic startle and tail suspending in group of 100 mg/L arsenits were delayed.In bearings water labyr inth tests, the training times of F1 pups in arsenite exposed groups swimming cor rectly to the hidden-platform in acquired memory test and memory reservation test were more than in control, which showed that lear ning and memory abilities of F1 pups were affected by arsenite exposure.

  Conclusion   Neurobehavioral development and abilities of learning and memory in offspring rats could be impaired by arsenite exposure throught drinking water.