The basis for the species difference between B6C3F1 mice (susceptible) and Fischer 344 rats (resistant) to 4- vinylcyclohexene (VcH)-induced ovarian tumorigenicity was investigated. Greater than 95% of a single oral 400 mg/kg dose of [¹⁴C]VCH was eliminated in 48 hr by mice and rats. Approximately 50-60% of the administered dose was excreted in the urine, while the remaining 30-40% of the dose was expired as organically soluble radioactivity. VCH-treated mice had dramatically higher blood concentrations of the VCH metabolite VCH-1,2-epoxide compared to VCH-treated rats. Furthermore, mouse hepatic microsomes catalyzed the conversion of VCH to VCH-1,2-epoxide at greater rates than rat hepatic microsomes. The destruction of oocytes was used as an index of ovarian toxicity to compare the potency of VCH and VCH epoxides in the mouse and rat. VCH markedly reduced the number of small oocytes in mice while no detectable change in oocyte number occurred in rats. Epoxide metabolites of VCH destroyed oocytes in both species at lower doses than VCH. Inhibition of VCH epoxidation reduced VCH-1,2-epoxide blood levels and partially protected mice from VCH-induced ovarian toxicity. Thus, the conversion of VCH to epoxides and the subsequent destruction of oocytes are critical steps in the induction of ovarian tumors by VCH. Rats may be resistant because the amount of VCH converted to epoxides is insufficient to destroy oocytes. The biochemical basis for the species difference in the rate of VCH epoxidation by hepatic microsomes from mice and rats was investigated. studies using inducers and inhibitors of certain cytochrome(s) P450 showed that hepatic microsomes of female mice perform VCH epoxidation at greater rates than rats because of the constitutive expression of P450 IIA and lIB forms. Hepatic microsomes of human females perform VCH epoxidation at lower rates than rats. This suggests that if the rate of epoxidation of VCH by the liver is the most important factor determining susceptibility to VCH toxicity then the rat may better model the response of humans exposed to VCH than mice.