Abstract
The percutaneous absorption of 8 chlorinated solvents were studied. The ex-perimental method consisted of the application of the solvent to the abdominal mouse skin and quantitating its absorption through the skin by its presence in whole body and its appearance in expiration. Determination of the solvent in tissues and expiration was carried out by gas chromatographic methods.
There was a great diversity of ability among solvents to penetrate the mouse skin. Dichloromethane was absorbed to an amount which was 53 times as large as the amount of tetrachloroethyene. Among tested solvents, those which had the highest solubility in water showed the greatest absorption rate, while those having the lowest solubility in water gave the smallest absorption rate from skin. The linear relationship between the absorption rate from skin and the solubility in water was found: in case of X ?? 16, Y=30.8+2.13X, r=0.87; in case of X ?? 16, Y= -52.8+6.59X, r=1.00; where Y is the percutaneous absorption rate (nM/min/cm2 of skin) and X is the solubility in water of solvent (mM at 25°C).
