We report rates of acrylic acid (AA) oxidation and tissue/blood partition coefficients in rat tissues. AA oxidation in Fischer 344 rat kidney and liver slices was described by saturable kinetics with maximal velocities of about 4 and 2 mumol/h/g, respectively. AA oxidation rates in 11 additional tissues were 40% or less than in liver. AA oxidation rates in Sprague-Dawley rat liver and kidney were similar to those in Fischer rats. Partition coefficients varied within a narrow range, suggesting that a tissue's contribution to systemic detoxification of AA will depend much more strongly on its rate of AA oxidation and the proportion of the cardiac output that it receives.