Skin Uptake of Gas Phase Methamphetamine: Effect of Clothing
Department
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Major
Environmental Engineering
Research Advisor
Morrison, Glenn
Advisor's Department
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Abstract
A fluid-mechanical boundary layer that surrounds the human body acts as a resistance to skin uptake of chemicals from the air. Clothing has the potential to emit or absorb chemicals depending on the concentration difference between the material and the air. We hypothesized that clothing contaminated with a chemical reduces the effective boundary layer thickness which causes the skin to absorb chemicals at a higher rate. A cotton shirt material equilibrated with the concentration of a 10 L chamber at ~77 ppb methamphetamine was positioned at fixed distances (1 to 20 mm) from filters with ~5 mg of artificial skin oil. Each filter was immersed in 6.5 mL of 1% ethyl acetate in hexane then analyzed using a gas chromatography- mass spectrometry. These findings support the hypothesis that the flux from air-equilibrated clothing to skin is higher than from air to bare skin; suggesting that clothing-to-skin transfer may be an important vector for uptake of many chemicals.
Biography
Melissa Buechlein is a senior in environmental engineering with a minor in geological engineering. She is a member of the Eta Theta chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha, of Chi Epsilon (the civil engineering honors fraternity), of Tau Beta Pi (the engineering honor society), and EcoMiners (a Missouri S&T going-green club). Her interests include: outdoor activities, sports, drawing, and baking.
Research Category
Sciences
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Document Type
Presentation
Award
Sciences oral presentation, Third place
Location
Carver Room
Presentation Date
16 Apr 2014, 9:00 am - 9:30 am
Skin Uptake of Gas Phase Methamphetamine: Effect of Clothing
Carver Room
A fluid-mechanical boundary layer that surrounds the human body acts as a resistance to skin uptake of chemicals from the air. Clothing has the potential to emit or absorb chemicals depending on the concentration difference between the material and the air. We hypothesized that clothing contaminated with a chemical reduces the effective boundary layer thickness which causes the skin to absorb chemicals at a higher rate. A cotton shirt material equilibrated with the concentration of a 10 L chamber at ~77 ppb methamphetamine was positioned at fixed distances (1 to 20 mm) from filters with ~5 mg of artificial skin oil. Each filter was immersed in 6.5 mL of 1% ethyl acetate in hexane then analyzed using a gas chromatography- mass spectrometry. These findings support the hypothesis that the flux from air-equilibrated clothing to skin is higher than from air to bare skin; suggesting that clothing-to-skin transfer may be an important vector for uptake of many chemicals.
