ELIZABETH SPALT
Dermal Absorption of Contaminants from Soil: A Review of Current Literature and Investigations with DEET
Environmental Health, MS
Preceptor: John Kissel, PhD
Evaluation of the potential for dermal exposure to chemical contaminants in soil and sediment is often required in the context of Superfund site risk assessments. The dermal route of exposure to environmental contaminants is generally not well characterized, and the total published literature describing empirical investigations of dermal absorption from soil consists of less than forty studies. The methodologies employed in these studies are not consistent (and often flawed) which hinders extrapolation of results to compounds that have not been studied directly. Following enumeration of appropriate methodological characteristics, all published investigations of dermal absorption of contaminations from soil were reviewed. The creation of standardized in vitro protocol using human cadaver skin to investigate dermal absorption from soil has the potential to facilitate dermal risk assessment. Resistant to in vitro testing (based in part on published but faulty arguments in favor of in vivo animal studies) must be overcome in order to make progress. To this end, the comparability of human in vitro and human in vivo must be demonstrated or refuted. This requires identification of a limited number of model compounds that can be employed both in vivo and in vitro. N,N-diethyl-m¬-tolumide (DEET) was selected as one such compound based on its physical and chemical properties and known toxicity. Results of initial in vitro experiments are reported here.
