Studies examining the pharmacokinetics of manganese during pregnancy have largely focused on the oral route of exposure and have shown that the amount of manganese that crosses the rodent placenta is low. However, limited information exists regarding the distribution of manganese in fetal tissues following inhalation. The objective of this study was to determine manganese body burden in CD rats and fetuses following inhalation of a MnSO4 aerosol during pregnancy. Animals were evaluated following pre-breeding (2 weeks), mating (up to 14 days) and gestational (from gestation day (GD) 0 though 20) exposure to air or MnSO4 (0.05, 0.5, or 1 mg Mn/m(3)) for 6h/day, 7 days/week. The following maternal samples were collected for manganese analysis: whole blood, lung, pancreas, liver, brain, femur, and placenta. Fetal tissues were examined on GD 20 and included whole blood, lung, liver, brain, and skull cap. Maternal lung manganese concentrations were increased following exposure to MnSO4 at >or=0.05 mg Mn/m(3). Maternal brain and placenta manganese concentrations were increased following exposure of pregnant rats to MnSO4 at >or=0.5 mg Mn/m(3). Increased fetal liver manganese concentrations were observed following in utero exposure to MnSO4 at >or=0.5 mg Mn/m(3). Manganese concentrations within all other fetal tissues were not different from air-exposed controls. The results of this study demonstrate that the placenta partially sequesters inhaled manganese, thereby limiting exposure to the fetus.