Pregnant SPRD rats were injected s.c. daily with 2.45, 4.9 and 9.8 mg kg-1 aluminium lactate or distilled water on gestational days 7-15. Gestational aluminium treatment had no effect either on litter size or the body weight of pups on postnatal day 1 but it decreased postnatal weight gain resulting in significantly lower body weight at weaning (postnatal day 22). It had no effect on the acquisition of a conditioned taste aversion, but in a passive avoidance task the learning ability of pups of dams given the top dose of aluminium was impaired.