Epithelial binding of 1,2-dichloroethane in mice

The metabolism and binding of 14C-labelled 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) in female C57BL-mice were studied. As shown by whole-body autoradiography with heated and organic solvent-extracted tissue sections of i.v. injected mice, a selective localization of non-volatile and bound DCE-metabolites occurred in the nasal olfactory mucosa and the tracheo-bronchial epithelium. Low levels of metabolites were also present in the epithelia of the upper alimentary tract, vagina and eyelid, and in the liver and kidney. A decreased mucosal and epithelial binding was observed after pretreatment with metyrapone, indicating that the binding might be due to an oxidative metabolism of DCE. The quantitated levels of in vivo binding were considerably lower in mice injected i.p. with DCE, as compared to mice given equimolar doses of 14C-labelled 1,2-dibromoethane. In vitro experiments with 1000 g supernatants from various tissues showed that the nasal mucosa has a marked ability to activate DCE into products that become irreversibly bound to the tissue. It is proposed that the nasal olfactory mucosa is a target tissue for toxicity of DCE.