Percutaneous penetration of uranium in rats after a contamination on intact or wounded skin

The aim of this work is to assess in vivo in a hairless rat model, the percutaneous diffusion of uranium through intact or wounded rat skin. Six types of wounds were simulated by excoriation and burns with 10 N HF, 2, 5 and 14 N HNO3 and 10 N NaOH on anaesthetised hairless rats. Percutaneous penetration through wounded skin towards blood and subsequent urinary excretion of uranium was followed in vivo during 24 h. The influence of the physicochemical form (solution or powder) of uranyl nitrate (UN) on its percutaneous diffusion was also investigated. UN, even as a powder, can diffuse through intact skin. The presence of uranium in blood is more persistent and its urinary elimination is slower after an HF burn than after an HNO3 burn. Excoriation increases dramatically percutaneous absorption of UN. Thus, percutaneous diffusion of UN is largely dependent on skin barrier integrity with a particular importance of stratum corneum.