Bioavailability in Vivo of Benzo[a]Pyrene Adsorbed to Diesel Particulate

Abstract

To evaluate health risks associated with exposure to particulates in the environment, it is necessary to quantify the bioavailability of carcinogens associated with the particulates. Direct analysis of bioavailability in vivo is most readily accomplished by adsorbing a radiolabeled form of the carcinogen to the particulate. A sam ple of native diesel particulate collected from an Oldsmobile die sel engine that contained 1.03 μ g benzo[ a] pyrene ( BaP)/ g particulate was supplemented with exogenous [ 3 H]- BaP to pro duce a particulate containing 2.62 μ g BaP/g. To insure that elu tion of BaP from native and [3 H] -BaP-supplemented particulate was similar, in vitro analyses were performed. When using phos pholipid vesicles composed of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC), 1.52% of total BaP was eluted from native particulate into the vesicles in 18 hrs; from [ 3 H] -BaP supplemented particu late, 1.68% was eluted. Using toluene as eluent, 2.55% was eluted from native particulate, and 8.25% from supplemented particulate, in 6 hrs. Supplemented particulate was then instilled intratracheally into male Sprague-Dawley rats and distribution of radioactivity was analyzed at selected times over 3 days. About 50% of radioactivity remained in lungs at 3 days following instil lation, with 30% being excreted into feces and the remainder dis tributed throughout the organs of the rats. To estimate the amount of radioactivity that entered feces through swallowing of a portion of the instilled dose, [3 H] -BaP-supplemented particu late was instilled intratracheally into rats that had a cannula sur gically implanted in the bile duct. Rate of elimination of radio activity into bile was monitored; 10.6% of radioactivity was re covered in 6 hr, an amount slightly lower than the 12.8% ex creted in 6 hrs into feces of animals with intact bile ducts. Our studies provide a quantitative description of the distribution of BaP and its metabolites following intratracheal instillation of diesel particulate. Because rates of elution of BaP in vitro are similar for native diesel particulate and particulate with supple mental [ 3H] -BaP, our results provide a reasonable estimate of the bioavailability in vivo of BaP associated with diesel particu late.