Molecular mechanism of 1,1-dichloroethylene toxicity: excreted metabolites reveal different pathways of reactive intermediates.

The excretion and biotransformation of [14C] 1,1-dichloroethylene (vinylidene chloride, VDC) after administration of a single oral dose has been investigated in female rats. Seventy-two hours after a dose of 0.5, 5.0, and 50.0 mg/kg, 1.26, 9.70, 16.47%, respectively, are exhaled as unchanged VDC, and 13.64, 11.35, 6.13% as 14CO2. The main pathway of elimination is through renal excretion with 43.55, 53.88, 42.11% of the administered radioactivity. Through the biliary system, 15.74, 14.54, 7.65% of the activity are eliminated. The isolation of the main metabolites of VDC from 24 h urine is accomplished through the combined application of solvent extraction, ion exchange chromatography and thin layer chromatography. Then gas chromatography and mass spectrometry are used for their identification. Three metabolites have been identified: thiodiglycolic acid, N-acetyl-S-(2-carboxymethyl)cysteine and methyl-thio-acetylaminoethanol. In addition, three smaller unidentified radioactive peaks have been found. Thiodiglycolic acid is the main metabolite in VDC metabolism. The simultaneous formation of an ethanolamine- and a cysteine-conjugation product points to different reaction pathways of the postulated intermediate reactive epoxide; ethanolamine probably originates from membrane lipids, which react with VDC-epoxide and/or its derivatives. This pathway could explain, in part, the parenchyma damaging effect of VDC.