Dermal uptake of nicotine from air and clothing: Experimental verification |
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| Authors: | G. Bekö G. Morrison C. J. Weschler H. M. Koch C. Pälmke T. Salthammer T. Schripp A. Eftekhari J. Toftum G. Clausen |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark;2. Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO, USA;3. Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA;4. Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Social Accident Insurance, Institute of the Ruhr‐Universit?t Bochum (IPA), Bochum, Germany;5. Fraunhofer WKI, Braunschweig, Germany |
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| Abstract: | This study aims to elucidate in greater detail the dermal uptake of nicotine from air or from nicotine‐exposed clothes, which was demonstrated recently in a preliminary study. Six non‐smoking participants were exposed to gaseous nicotine (between 236 and 304 μg/m3) over 5 hours while breathing clean air through a hood. Four of the participants wore only shorts and 2 wore a set of clean clothes. One week later, 2 of the bare‐skinned participants were again exposed in the chamber, but they showered immediately after exposure instead of the following morning. The 2 participants who wore clean clothes on week 1 were now exposed wearing a set of clothes that had been exposed to nicotine. All urine was collected for 84 hours after exposure and analyzed for nicotine and its metabolites, cotinine and 3OH‐cotinine. All participants except those wearing fresh clothes excreted substantial amounts of biomarkers, comparable to levels expected from inhalation intake. Uptake for 1 participant wearing exposed clothes exceeded estimated intake via inhalation by >50%. Biomarker excretion continued during the entire urine collection period, indicating that nicotine accumulates in the skin and is released over several days. Absorbed nicotine was significantly lower after showering in 1 subject but not the other. Differences in the normalized uptakes and in the excretion patterns were observed among the participants. The observed cotinine half‐lives suggest that non‐smokers exposed to airborne nicotine may receive a substantial fraction through the dermal pathway. Washing skin and clothes exposed to nicotine may meaningfully decrease exposure. |
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| Keywords: | biomonitoring exposure pathway indoor environment metabolism skin smoking |
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