Quantification of chemical mixture interactions modulating dermal absorption using a multiple membrane fiber array.

Dermal exposures to chemical mixtures can potentially increase or decrease systemic bioavailability of toxicants in the mixture. Changes in dermal permeability can be attributed to changes in physicochemical interactions between the mixture, the skin, and the solute of interest. These physicochemical interactions can be described as changes in system coefficients associated with molecular descriptors described by Abraham's linear solvation energy relationship (LSER). This study evaluated the effects of chemical mixtures containing either a solvent (ethanol) or a surfactant (sodium lauryl sulfate, SLS) on solute permeability and partitioning by quantifying changes in system coefficients in skin and a three-membrane-coated fiber (MCF) system, respectively. Regression analysis demonstrated that changes in system coefficients in skin were strongly correlated ( R2 = 0.89-0.98) to changes in system coefficients in the three-membrane MCF array with mixtures containing either 1% SLS or 50% ethanol. The PDMS fiber appeared to play a significant role (R2 = 0.84-0.85) in the MCF array in predicting changes in solute permeability, while the WAX fiber appeared to contribute less (R2 = 0.59-0.77) to the array than the other two fibers. On the basis of changes in system coefficients that are part of a LSER, these experiments were able to link physicochemical interactions in the MCF with those interactions in skin when either system is exposed to 1% SLS or 50% ethanol. These experiments further demonstrated the utility of a MCF array to adequately predict changes in dermal permeability when skin is exposed to mixtures containing either a surfactant or a solvent and provide some insight into the nature of the physiochemical interactions that modulate dermal absorptions.