The disposition of 2-(2-quinolyl)-1,3-indandione (D. C. yellow #11, DCY) in male Fischer rats dosed intravenously or by feeding was determined. For rats given [14C]DCY in the feed (0.00044-0.41% of the diet), recovery of radioactivity during the 24-h dosing period and the 72-h period thereafter ranged from 89.1 to 93.9% for feces and from 4.98 to 6.25 for urine. Tissues contained only trace amounts. Following intravenous dosing with [14C]DCY (0.93 mg/kg), radioactivity distributed readily into most tissues; maximum amounts were present at 5 min, the earliest time of assay. Maximum amounts of radioactivity in fat, skin, and gut tissue, however, were present at 30 min after dosing. These three tissues also had relatively long alpha phases for the elimination of radioactivity. In 24 h after intravenous dosing, rats excreted 81.1% of the dose in the feces and 16.0% of the dose in the urine. For rats fitted with biliary cannulas, 54.5% of the dose, all of which was metabolites of [14C]DCY, was recovered in the bile in 4 h. Associated with the rapid and extensive biliary excretion of metabolites of intravenously administered [14C]DCY was the appearance of large amounts of radioactivity in the feces and also, at intermediate time points, in the liver, gut contents, and gut tissue. In conclusion, rats rapidly distribute, metabolize, and excrete [14C]DCY.