Neurotoxicity following acute inhalation exposure to the oil dispersant COREXIT EC9500A

Details

• Personal Author:
  Castranova, Vincent ; Frazer DG ; Goldsmith WT ; Jackson M ; Jefferson AM ; Lin GX ; McKinney W ; Robinson VA ; Sriram K
• Description:
  Consequent to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, there is an emergent concern about the short- and long-term adverse health effects of exposure to crude oil, weathered-oil products, and oil dispersants among the workforce employed to contain and clean up the spill. Oil dispersants typically comprise of a mixture of solvents and surfactants that break down floating oil to micrometer-sized droplets within the water column, thus preventing it from reaching the shorelines. As dispersants are generally sprayed from the air, workers are at risk for exposure primarily via inhalation. Such inhaled fractions might potentially permeate or translocate to the brain via olfactory or systemic circulation, producing central nervous system (CNS) abnormalities. To determine whether oil dispersants pose a neurological risk, male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed by whole-body inhalation exposure to a model oil dispersant, COREXIT EC9500A (CE; approximately 27 mg/m(3) x 5 h/d x 1 d), and various molecular indices of neural dysfunction were evaluated in discrete brain areas, at 1 or 7 d postexposure. Exposure to CE produced partial loss of olfactory marker protein in the olfactory bulb. CE also reduced tyrosine hydroxylase protein content in the striatum. Further, CE altered the levels of various synaptic and neuronal intermediate filament proteins in specific brain areas. Reactive astrogliosis, as evidenced by increased expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein, was observed in the hippocampus and frontal cortex following exposure to CE. Collectively, these findings are suggestive of disruptions in olfactory signal transduction, axonal function, and synaptic vesicle fusion, events that potentially result in an imbalance in neurotransmitter signaling. Whether such acute molecular aberrations might persist and produce chronic neurological deficits remains to be ascertained. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Animals Environmental Exposure Environmental Monitoring Environmental Pollution Hazardous Substances Inhalation Exposure Laboratories Nervous System Nervous System Diseases Nervous System Disorders Occupational Health Oil And Gas Industry Petroleum Risk Assessment Safety Solvents Surface-Active Agents

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• Keywords:
  Acute-toxicity Animal-studies Brain-damage Brain-function Central-nervous-system Central-nervous-system-disorders Crude-oil Dispersion Environmental-contamination Environmental-exposure Exposure-assessment Exposure-levels Exposure-methods Health-hazards Inhalants Laboratory-animals Laboratory-testing Molecular-structure Neurological-reactions Neurological-system Neurotransmitters Oil-industry Oils Olfactory-disorders Petroleum-industry Petroleum-oils Proteins Risk-analysis Surfactants

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• ISSN:
  1528-7394
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  HELD - Health Effects Laboratory Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  74
• Issue:
  21
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20039687
• Citation:
  J Toxicol Environ Health A 2011 Nov; 74(21):1405-1418
• Contact Point Address:
  Krishnan Sriram, PhD, Toxicology and Molecular Biology Branch, Mailstop L-3014, CDC-NIOSH, 1095 Willowdale Road, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
• Email:
  kos4@cdc.gov
• CAS Registry Number:
  1-(1-Butoxy-2-propoxy)-2-propanol (CAS RN 29911-28-2) ; Distillates (petroleum), hydrotreated light (CAS RN 64742-47-8) ; Polyethylene glycol sorbitan trioleate (CAS RN 9005-70-3) ; Polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate (CAS RN 9005-65-6) ; Sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (CAS RN 577-11-7) ; Sorbitan mono-(9Z)-9-octadecenoate (CAS RN 1338-43-8)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2012
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A: Current Issues
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2e6c34884a988556ff690864e95006e253c37a3474f6fee86491dbab185050d2bfdf02eabdfcd3005de86a4b9e56caf908c9eee3bb46156fa11e5111374858ad
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/192841/cdc_192841_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 533.26 KB ]