Chemical and Biological Factors Influencing the Skin Carcinogenicity of Fossil Liquids

摘要

Synthetically derived petroleums, obtained from either oil shale or coal, are carcinogenic when applied to mouse skin. The fluorescence of these materials in sebaceous glands has been quantitated using microphotometry. Structural and compositional features of the skin may contribute to determine the localization and subsequent tissue clearance of carcinogenic hydrocarbons. The sebaceous gland and associated lipids have been demonstrated to serve as traps for PAH's and the relative amount of PAH deposited in sebaceous glands is significantly affected by the lipotropic nature of the vehicle. These observations are highly relevant to an assessment of the potential consequences of human occupational skin exposure to whole, undiluted hydrocarbon mixtures which may contain a variety of known carcinogenic PAH's. It is possible that short chain aliphatic and aromatic molecules which make up the bulk of the syncrude may have as great or greater impact upon delayed or cumulative biological effects as the relative amount of specific active compounds. (ERA citation 04:041763)