Dermal absorption and tissue disposition of 3,3',4, 4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl (TCB) in an ex-vivo pig model: assessing the impact of dermal exposure variables

Cumulative exposure estimates for polychlorinated biphenyls using a job-exposure matrix

PCB exposure has been associated with increased risk for cancer, neurological disease, and for birth defects in children exposed in utero. Because of the long half-lives of PCB congeners, they remain a public health problem in the United States 30 years after being banned. Workers (n=3569) at an Indiana capacitor manufacturing plant were exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from 1957 to 1977. The purpose of this work was to develop a period-specific job-exposure matrix (JEM) for a follow-up epidemiologic study investigating the increased risks for cancer previously observed in the cohort.

METHODS

We used eight exposure determinants to estimate PCB exposures systematically. Work history, job description, capacitor production factors, PCB usage trends, and air sample data were used to develop the JEM in four steps: (1) all job titles (n=884) were assessed for exposure determinants, (2) jobs with similar exposure determinants were grouped, (3) for each job exposure category, exposure intensity (high-medium-low-background) and frequency (continuous-intermittent) were qualitatively rated separately for inhalation and dermal exposure, and (4) for each job exposure category, the product of intensity (based on air sampling data) and frequency (fraction of day exposed) was calculated. The JEM was then modified for two eras of different PCB exposure conditions.

RESULTS

The resulting JEM consists of inhalation and dermal exposure values for 19 job exposure categories.

CONCLUSION

The JEM showed an exposure-response trend associated with increased brain cancer mortality in the epidemiologic study.

Dermal absorption of environmental contaminants from soil and sediment: a critical review

Risk assessment of hazardous wastes sites may require characterization of the dermal availability of chemical contaminants in soil and/or sediment. Current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidance for assessment of dermal exposures to contaminants in water and soil was finalized in 2004 as a supplement (Part E) to the Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund (RAGS). The soil protocol presented in RAGS Part E is less sophisticated than the water protocol and is supported by less empirical data. Investigations of dermal absorption of soil and sediment-borne contaminants that have been conducted to date include in vitro and in vivo experiments using both human and surrogate skin. A review of that literature was conducted with attention to relevant criteria including consideration of layering effects, degree of chemical saturation of soil, appropriateness of particle size distribution employed, soil-chemical contact time, and continuity of soil-skin contact (in in vivo studies). Most studies published to date are deficient by virtue of execution or reporting on one or more of the selected criteria. In addition the lack of methodological standardization evident in the literature hinders systematic evaluation of results. Since additional experimental work is needed, general agreement on acceptable approaches would be useful. Recommendations for good practice are presented.

Pre-treatment effects of trichloroethylene on the dermal absorption of the biocide, triazine

Triazine is often added to cutting-fluid formulations in the metal-machining industry as a preservative. Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a solvent used for cleaning the cutting fluid or oil from the metal product. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of TCE on the dermal absorption of triazine in an in vitro flow-through diffusion cell system. Skin sections were dosed topically with aqueous mixtures containing mineral oil or polyethylene glycol (PEG) spiked with (14)C-triazine. Some skin sections were simultaneously exposed to TCE while other skin sections were pre-treated with TCE daily for 4 days in vivo and then exposed to these mixtures in vitro. TCE pre-treatment almost doubled triazine permeability, but this pre-treatment had no effect on triazine diffusivity. The pre-treatment effects of TCE on triazine permeability appear to be more important in PEG-based mixtures than in the mineral oil-based mixtures. Simultaneous single exposure to TCE had little or no effect on triazine absorption. TCE absorption was significantly less than triazine absorption; however, cutting fluid additives had a more significant effect on TCE absorption than on triazine absorption. In summary, this study demonstrated that TCE pre-treatment can significantly alter the dermal permeability to triazine, and workers who are chronically exposed to this or similar cleansers may be at increased risk of absorbing related skin irritants.

Enhanced systemic tissue distribution after dermal versus intravenous 3,3',4,4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl exposure: limited utility of radiolabel blood area under the curve and excretion data in dermal absorption calculations and tissue exposure assessment

As a dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), 3,3',4,4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl (TCB) is receiving increasing research and regulatory interest due to its high toxicity and persistence in the environment. (14)C-TCB was administered at an identical dose of 300 microg via the intravenous (iv) or dermal route to swine to examine the exposure route dependency of the relationship between tissue exposure and blood area under the curve (AUC) and the relationship between dermal absorption and excretion of radiolabel. After iv and dermal exposure, blood, urine, and feces samples were collected during the 11-day in vivo studies. At the end of the experiments, full mass balance studies were conducted to characterize tissue distribution of label. On average, over 70% of the applied dermal and iv doses were recovered. As expected, more than a 10-fold increase in blood AUC (0.49 vs 0.031, h x % dose/ml), plasma AUC (0.40 vs 0.038, h x % dose/ml), urine excretion (29 vs 2.3% of the applied dose), and fecal (30 vs 3.0% of the applied dose) excretion was determined after iv exposure compared to dermal exposure. However, we unexpectedly found that the tissue residue following iv exposure (8.0% of the applied dose) was only half that following dermal exposure (16% of the applied dose). Significantly larger (20- to 30-fold) ratios of blood AUC:tissue residue and excretion:tissue residue were observed after iv exposure compared to dermal exposure. This may indicate a route-related concentration-dependent blood-to-tissue partition process of pooled label, unique skin metabolism, or saturable hepatic metabolism of TCB. Thus, a long-term, low-input exposure pattern similar to this dermal exposure could be more harmful to systemic tissues than a short-term, high-dose exposure similar to this iv exposure. One should be aware that greater absorption, higher blood concentrations, greater blood and plasma AUCs, and greater excretion of label do not necessarily result in a greater overall tissue exposure and that some conventional approaches using label determination in blood and excreta without full mass balance studies may underestimate dermal absorption of chemicals similar to TCB.