Abstract
Ten- and 12-h workdays are relatively common in the chemical and other non-labor intensive industries both in the United States and Europe. Based on pharmacokinetic principles, persons who work 10–12 h shifts and are exposed to chemicals with a terminal half-life between 5 and 200 h will absorb a larger quantity of the toxicant or have higher peak blood levels than persons who work 8-h shifts. To evaluate the effects of exposure duration and repeated exposure on the elimination of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), rats were repeatedly exposed to 100 ppm 14CCl4 for either 8 or 11.5 h/day. Pharmacokinetic equations which describe the plasma concentration and pulmonary elimination during and following single and repeated inhalation exposures were developed. These equations are based on a diffusional type of input function and a linear systems analysis approach. They can be used to make predictions of the cumulation of toxicant following repeated exposure, the relative change in the plasma level following multiple exposures, and the steady-state plasma level based only on the elimination of the chemical in the breath. The pharmacokinetic analysis indicated that rats repeatedly exposed to 100 ppm CCl4 for 11.5 h/day for 4 days per week, or 8 h/day for 5 days per week, will not have increasing plasma levels. The analysis also predicted no significant difference in the peak plasma concentration of CCl4 between the 8 and 11.5 h/day schedules following either 1 or 2 weeks of exposure. Due to rapid pulmonary elimination by the rat, the steady state plasma level of CCl4 was reached after only three consecutive exposures for both schedules. The alpha and beta half-lives (x±SE) of pulmonary elimination for the 8 h/day group were 84±9 min and 400±32 min, respectively. The half-lives for the 11.5 h group were 91±6 min and 496±32 min, indicating that the beta phase half-life was significantly longer than that of the 8-h group. This observation, coupled with the tissue distribution data (Paustenbach et al. 1986), suggests that during the longer exposure period a greater fraction of CCl4 is placed in the poorly perfused tissues like fat, thus altering the time-course of elimination in the breath. A general formula for adjusting TLVs for unusually long work schedules is also developed and presented.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andersen ME, Gargas ML, Jones RA, Jenkins LJ (1979) The use of inhalation technqiues to assess the kinetic constants of 1.1-dichloroethylene metabolism. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 47: 395–409
Andersen ME, MacNaughton MG, Clewell HJ III, Paustenbach DJ (1987) Adjusting Exposure limits for long and short exposure periods using a physiological pharmacokinetic model. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 48: 335–343
Brief RS, Scala RA (1975) Occupational exposure limits for novel work schedules. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 36: 467–471
Calabrese EJ (1977) Further Comments on Novel Schedule TLV's. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 38: 443–446
Cutler DJ Linear system analysis in pharmacokinetics (1978) J Pharmacokinet Biopharm 6: 265–282
David A, Frantik E, Holvsa R, Novakova O (1981) Role of time and concentration on carbon tetrachloride toxicity in rats. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 48: 49–60
Hickey JLS, Reist PC (1977) Application of occupational exposure limits to unusual work schedules. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 38: 613–621
Hickey JLS, Reist PC (1979) Adjusting occupational exposure limits for moonlighting, overtime and environmental exposures. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 40: 727–734
Hickey JLS (1980) Adjustment of occupational exposure limits for seasonal occupations. Amer Ind Hyg Assoc J 41: 261–263
Kety SS (1951) The theory and application of the exchange of inert gas at the lungs and tissues. Pharmacol Rev 3: 1–43
Mason JW, Dershin H (1976) Limits to occupational exposure in chemical environments under novel work schedules. J Occup Med 18: 603–607
Monster AC (1979) Difference in uptake, elimination and metabolism in exposure to trichloro-ethylene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane and tetrachloroethylene. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 42: 311–317
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (1979) Compliance Officers: Field Manual. Department of Labor, Washington, DC
Paustenbach DJ (1985) Occupational exposure limits, pharmacokinetics, and unusual work schedules. Chapter Six. In: Cralley and Cralley (eds), Patty's industrial Hygiene and toxicology, Volume III A. Wiley Publishers, New York, pp 111–127
Paustenbach DJ, Carlson GP, Christian JE, Born GS, Rausch JE (1983) A dynamic closed-loop recirculating inhalation chamber for conducting pharmacokinetic and short-term toxicity tests. Fund Appl Toxicol 3: 528–532
Paustenbach DJ, Christian JE, Carlson GP, Born GS (1986) The effect of an 11.5 h/day exposure schedule on the distribution and toxicity of inhaled carbon tetrachloride in the rat. Fund Appl Toxicol 6: 472–483
Pfaffli P, Bachman AL (1972) Trichloroethylene concentrations in blood and expired air as indicators of occupational exposure. A preliminary report. Work Environ Health 140: 144–150
Reigelman S, Loo JC, Rowland M (1968) Shortcomings in pharmacokinetic analysis by conceiving the body to exhibit properties of a single compartment. J Pharm Sci 57: 117–125
Roach SA (1978) Threshold limit values for extraordinary work schedules. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 39: 345–348
Stewart RD, Gay HH, Erley DS, Hake CL, Peterson JE (1961) Human exposure to carbon tetrachloride vapor — relationship of expired air concentration to exposure and toxicity. J Occup Med 3: 586–590
Thron CD (1974) Linearity and superposition in pharmacokinetics. Pharmacol Rev 26: 3–31
Uemitsu N, Minobe Y, Nakoyoshi H (1985) Concentration-time-response relationship under conditions of single inhalation of carbon tetrachloride. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 77: 260–266
Van Stee EW, Boorman GA, Moorman MP, Sloan RA (1982) Time varying concentration profile as a determinent of the inhalation toxicity of carbon tetrachloride. J Toxicol Environ Health 10: 785–795
Veng-Pedersen P (1977) Curve fitting and modeling in pharmacokinetics and some practical experiences with NONLIN and a new program FUNFIT. J Pharmacokinet Biopharm 5: 513–520
Veng-Pedersen P (1980) Model independent method of anylzing input in Linear Pharmacokinetic systems having a polyexponential impulse response I. Theoretical Analysis. J Pharm Sci 69: 298–304
Veng-Pedersen P (1984) Pulmonary Absorption and Excretion of compounds in the gas phase: Theoretical pharmacokinetic and toxicokinetic analysis. J Pharm Sci 73: 1136–1141
Wollman H, Dripps RD (1971) Uptake, distribution, elimination and administration of inhalational anesthetics. In: Goodman LS, Gilman A (eds). The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics (4th ed). The Macmillan Company, New York, pp 60–70
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Veng-Pedersen, P., Paustenbach, D.J., Carlson, G.P. et al. A linear systems approach to analyzing the pharmacokinetics of carbon tetrachloride in the rat following repeated exposures of 8 and 11.5 h/day. Arch Toxicol 60, 355–364 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00295755
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00295755