Hygiena 2012, 57(2):50-55

Influence of Solvent on Skin Absorption of Pyrene in Vitro

Lenka Kotingová¹, Viktor Voříšek², Lenka Borská³, Eva Čermáková⁴, Zdeněk Fiala¹

¹ Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Lékařská fakulta v Hradci Králové, Ústav hygieny a preventivního lékařství, Hradec Králové

² Fakultní nemocnice Hradec Králové, Ústav klinické biochemie a diagnostiky, Hradec Králové

³ Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Lékařská fakulta v Hradci Králové, Ústav patologické fyziologie, Hradec Králové

⁴ Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Lékařská fakulta v Hradci Králové, Oddělení výpočetní techniky, Hradec Králové

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) represent an important group of work and nonoccupational contaminants. Pyrene is one of the typical representatives of PAHs. In occupational exposure the inhaled amount of pyrene may be accompanied by a considerable transdermal intake. The presented in vitro experiment was focused on the influence of carrier medium/solvent (acetone or sunflower oil) on the basic characteristics of pyrene transfer through full pig ear skin, using diffusion Franz cells. Pyrene concentration in the donor phase was 0.00095 g pyrene/g solvent and 0.0095 g pyrene/g solvent. Pyrene concentration in the receptor fluid samples was determined by GC-MS. When using sunflower oil as a solvent, the absorptions of pyrene in the case of lower donor phase concentration were 0.04±0.06 nmol/cm²/24 h; 0.15±0.14 nmol/cm²/48 h and 0.50±0.58 nmol/cm²/72 h, flux 0.0088±0.0089 nmol/cm²/h and lag time 17.36±13.43 h. When using a donor phase with higher concentration of pyrene, the absorptions were 0.07±0.06 nmol/cm²/24 h; 0.34±0.25 nmol/cm²/48 h and 0.63±0.35 nmol/cm²/72 h, flux 0.0119±0.0063 nmol/cm²/h and lag time 18.09±10.54 h. When using acetone as the solvent, the absorptions of pyrene in the case of lower donor phase concentration were 0.02±0.05 nmol/cm²/12 h; 0.19±0.22 nmol/cm²/24 h; 0.55±0.59 nmol/cm²/48 h and 1.17±1.13 nmol/cm²/72 h, flux 0.0192±0.0181 nmol/cm²/h and lag time 15.38±10.04 h. When using higher donor phase concentration, the absorptions of pyrene were 0.02±0.02 nmol/cm²/12 h; 0.09±0.05 nmol/cm²/24 h; 0.39±0.36 nmol/cm²/48 h and 0.91±0.81 nmol/cm²/72 h, flux 0.0150±0.0139 nmol/cm²/h and lag time 13.16±6.37 h. The absorption of pyrene was in both donor phase concentrations higher in the case of using acetone solvent, but a statistically significant difference was only found after 12 and 24 hours of exposure at lower doses and after 12 hours of exposure at higher doses.

Keywords: exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), dermal absorption, pyrene

Received: August 2011; Accepted: April 2, 2012; Published: June 1, 2012  Show citation