Human skin in vitro permeation of bentazon and isoproturon formulations with or without protective clothing suit

Skin exposures to chemicals may lead, through percutaneous permeation, to a significant increase in systemic circulation. Skin is the primary route of entry during some occupational activities, especially in agriculture. To reduce skin exposures, the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) is recommended. PPE efficiency is characterized as the time until products permeate through material (lag time, T-lag). Both skin and PPE permeations are assessed using similar in vitro methods; the diffusion cell system. Flow-through diffusion cells were used in this study to assess the permeation of two herbicides, bentazon and isoproturon, as well as four related commercial formulations (Basagran(A (R)), Basamais(A (R)), Arelon(A (R)) and Matara(A (R))). Permeation was measured through fresh excised human skin, protective clothing suits (suits) (Microchem(A (R)) 3000, AgriSafe Pro(A (R)), Proshield(A (R)) and Microgard(A (R)) 2000 Plus Green), and a combination of skin and suits. Both herbicides, tested by itself or as an active ingredient in formulations, permeated readily through human skin and tested suits (T-lag < 2 h). High permeation coefficients were obtained regardless of formulations or tested membranes, except for Microchem(A (R)) 3000. Short T-lag, were observed even when skin was covered with suits, except for Microchem(A (R)) 3000. Kp values tended to decrease when suits covered the skin (except when Arelon(A (R)) was applied to skin covered with AgriSafe Pro and Microgard(A (R)) 2000), suggesting that T-lag alone is insufficient in characterizing suits. To better estimate human skin permeations, in vitro experiments should not only use human skin but also consider the intended use of the suit, i.e., the active ingredient concentrations and type of formulations, which significantly affect skin permeation.