Groups of male and female F-344 rats and B6C3F1 mice were exposed to 15,000 ppm ethyl chloride (monochloroethane, ECL) or to air for 5 days (6 h/day). In this report, features of the P450-dependent ECL metabolism in the animals are described. A concurrent report describes the in vitro and in vivo features of the GSH-dependent ECL metabolism (Fedtke et al. 1994). ECL is oxidatively dechlorinated in an NADPH- and O2-dependent reaction, resulting in the formation of acetaldehyde (AC). The oxidative ECL metabolism rates in microsomal incubations were measured. The results indicated induction of the oxidative ECL metabolism by ECL itself in mice and female rats. The hydroxylation of p-nitrophenol, which was used as an indicator of P450IIE1 activity, was also induced in microsomal incubations from ECL-exposed mice and female rats, but, corresponding to the ECL metabolism, not in male rats. In contrast, catalytic activities related to P450IA and IIB subfamilies were not induced by ECL treatment. Additional experiments with the P450IIE1-specific inhibitor 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole and induction experiments with acetone, phenobarbital and methylcholanthrene confirmed that the isoenzyme mainly involved in the dechlorination reaction is cytochrome P450IIE1. AC was not detected in serum of ECL exposed animals and only slightly enhanced amounts were detected in urine samples from ECL exposed mice, reflecting the high capacities of the AC metabolizing pathways in vivo. The data are discussed with regard to the results of a 2-year bioassay with F-344 rats and B6C3F1 mice exposed to 15,000 ppm ECL (NTP 1989a).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)