Skin Permeation and Cutaneous Hypersensitivity As a Basis for Making Risk Assessments of Chromium As a Soil Contaminant

A literature review of experimental and human exposure studies of skin permeation and cutaneous hypersensitivity reactions evoked by chromium was carried out to provide a basis for making a risk assessment of chromium as a soil contaminant. In vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated that 1 to 4% of t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEnvironmental health perspectives Vol. 92; p. 111
Main Authors Bagdon, Robert E., Hazen, Robert E.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.05.1991
Subjects
560300 - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
ASIA
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
BODY
CHROMIUM COMPOUNDS
CONTAMINATION
DERMATITIS
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
DISEASE INCIDENCE
DISEASES
GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT
JAPAN
ORGANS
PERMEABILITY
RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT
RISK ASSESSMENT
SKIN
SKIN DISEASES
SLAGS
SOILS
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
UROGENITAL SYSTEM DISEASES
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Summary:A literature review of experimental and human exposure studies of skin permeation and cutaneous hypersensitivity reactions evoked by chromium was carried out to provide a basis for making a risk assessment of chromium as a soil contaminant. In vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated that 1 to 4% of the applied dose of hexavalent and trivalent chromium to guinea pig skin penetrated skin within 5 to 24 hours after application. Ultrastructural investigations showed that hexavalent chromium localized intracellularly and extracellularly in the upper layers of guinea pig epidermis. The potential of hexavalent chromium to produce a skin sensitization reaction is readily demonstrated using animal models. The incidence and characteristics of chromium-induced skin hypersensitivity as a clinical entity are described. A health effects survey of populations exposed to chromium slag in soil in Tokyo, Japan extending over 8 years indicated a tendency toward symptoms characterized as headache, chromic fatigue, and gastrointestinal complaints, positive occult blood tests, minute hematuria and albuminuria suggestive of incipient renal disease, and a tendency toward an increase in contact dermatitis that was seasonally related. Based on these data, the cleanup level of total chromium in soil is designated as 75 mg/kg. It is proposed that levels of total chromium lower than 75 mg/kg in soil would avoid undue risk of contact dermatitis.
ISSN:0091-6765
1552-9924
DOI:10.2307/3431146