The in vitro penetration and distribution of T-2 toxin through human skin

The penetration and distribution of T-2 toxin in excised human abdominal skin has been determined for a dose range of 1.0-2.6 micrograms/cm2 skin using an ethanol vehicle and a saline receptor solution. In all cases the overall percentage penetration of T-2 after 48 h was low, the greatest amounts of toxin being present in the stratum corneum with less in the epidermis and relatively little in the dermis. Vehicle: skin partition coefficients support this finding. Neither penetration nor distribution were changed by a rabbit serum receptor solution. Electron micrographs showed that at 1.8 micrograms/cm2 and above the contents of the intercellular space are leached out to leave the integument as a porous membrane. The distribution of T-2 within the skin after 48 h would suggest that for doses up to 2.6 micrograms/cm2 the irritative and inflammatory effects on the skin would be of more immediate concern than would systemic toxicity.