In laboratory studies, acute oral LD50 values in the range of 37 mg/kg body weight in rats to 330 mg/kg in hamsters have been found for dieldrin. As with other organochlorine compounds, the liver is the major target organ in rats, with effects that included increased liver/body weight ratio, hypertrophy and histopathological changes. The no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) in rats is 0.5 mg/kg diet, equal to 0.025 mg/kg body weight/day. When rats were fed dieldrin in their diet over three generations, no changes in reproductive capacity were observed at any dose level tested. A NOAEL of 2 mg dieldrin /kg diet has been set for reproduction in rats. There was no evidence for teratogenic potential in studies in rats, mice or rabbits using oral doses of up to 6 mg/kg body weight. Abnormal development and fetotoxicity were observed in hamsters and mice, however, these results are unlikely to be of significance in view of the maternal toxicity noted at the high dose levels. There is limited evidence that cyclodienes such as dieldrin may affect immune responses. IARC has concluded that there is inadequate evidence for the carcinogenicity of dieldrin in humans, and limited evidence in experimental animals and has been classified by IARC in Group 3.