Evaluation of skin irritation following weathered crude oil exposure in two mouse strains

Petroleum crude oil spills are common and vary in size and scope. Spill response workers throughout the course of remediation are exposed to so-called weathered oil and are known to report diverse health effects, including contact dermatitis. A murine model of repeated exposure to weathered marine crude oil was employed utilizing two strains of mice, C57BL/6 and BALB/c, to investigate the pathology of this irritant and identify the principal hydrocarbon components deposited in skin. Histopathology demonstrated clear signs of irritation in oil-exposed skin from both mouse strains, characterized by prominent epidermal hyperplasia (acanthosis). BALB/c mice exposed to oil demonstrated more pronounced irritation compared with C57BL/6 mice, which was characterized by increased acanthosis as well as increased inflammatory cytokine/chemokine protein expression of IL-1β, IL-6, CXCL10, CCL2, CCL3, CCL4, and CCL11. A gas chromatography/mass spectrometry method was developed for the identification and quantification of 42 aliphatic and EPA priority aromatic hydrocarbons from full thickness skin samples of C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice exposed to oil samples. Aromatic hydrocarbons were not detected in skin; however, aliphatic hydrocarbons in skin tended to accumulate with carbon numbers greater than C16. These preliminary data and observations suggest that weathered crude oil is a skin irritant and this may be related to specific hydrocarbon components, although immune phenotype appears to impact skin response as well.