Contaminated Soils (III): In Vitro Dermal Absorption of Ethylene Glycol and Nonylphenol in Human Skin

Dermal absorption of contaminants from soils at federal contaminated sites in Canada was investigated using one hydrophile, 14C-ethylene glycol (EG), and one lipophile, 14C-nonylphenol (NP). In vitro dermal absorption of EG and NP was examined in dermatomed (0.4–0.5 mm) human skin using Bronaugh Teflon flow-through cells with Hanks HEPES buffered (pH 7.4) receiver solution with 4% bovine serum albumin (BSA). Tests were conducted under occlusive conditions with and without a commercial gardening soil spiked with EG or NP applied to skin at a soil load of 5 mg/cm2. With percent absorption in skin depot included, a total of 9.9 ± 6.28% ( n = 6) and 34.8 ± 8.47% ( n = 6) absorption of EG with and without soil, respectively, and 20.6 ± 5.56% ( n = 7) and 41.1 ± 6.46% ( n = 7) of NP, with and without soil, respectively, were obtained. For tests without soil a reverse pattern was observed with significantly lower percent absorption into the receiver than depot with the lipophile NP, but significantly higher perc...