A METHOD FOR THE DETERMINATION OF CUTANEOUS PENETRATION OF MERCURY

¹ From the Division of Pharmacology, Food and Drug Administration, Federal Security Agency, Washington, D. C.

1. A method for determining cutaneous penetration of mercury is described which depends on the measurement of the quantity of mercury which is stored in the kidney during 24 hours of exposure.

2. Using the storage of mercury in the kidney as a measure of how much has passed through the skin, a number of factors have been examined for their influence on the cutaneous penetration of mercury.

(a) Covering the inunction site increases penetration nearly four-fold.

(b) The location of the inunction site appears to have no effect on penetration.

(c) Penetration of mercury through approximately equal percentage areas of total body surface is the same for the rat and the rabbit.

(d) Removal of excess ointment from the skin (clean inunction) reduces the amount of penetration.

(e) Washing the skin with soap and water before inunction has little or no effect on penetration.

(f) Halving the exposure area reduces penetration by approximately one-third.

(g) Sex and litter of the assay animals were found to have little or no measurable influence on penetration.

3. Due to the volatility of mercury compounds, a small but detectable amount of mercury is inhaled under the conditions of cutaneous exposure.

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