Pharmacokinetics, interactions with macromolecules and species differences in metabolism of DEHP

The recent long-term carcinogenesis bioassay of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) in rats and mice reported by the National Toxicology Program was the first such bioassay to implicate DEHP as a hepatocarcinogen. At the levels of DEHP fed (up to 1.2% of the diet for two years), the livers of the rats would have been exposed to unhydrolyzed diester; this would not have been the case at lower dosages. Extrapolation to lower dosages is therefore questionable. We do not have sufficient pharmacokinetic data in mice to evaluate the dose relationships as yet. Rodents differ conspicuously from primates in their manner of metabolizing DEHP, both in terms of the demand made on the oxidation potential of the liver and in the chemical properties of the major metabolites. The relevance of these differences must be determined before rodent species can be considered models for the effects of DEHP in humans. Radioactivity from carbonyl-labeled DEHP did not associate with purified protein, RNA or DNA from rat liver in vivo. Label from 2-ethyl-(1-14C)-hexyl-labeled DEHP or mono(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP) did appear to associate strongly with purified DNA, but label from free 14C-labeled 2-ethylhexanol did not. The apparent binding from DEHP and MEHP was not exchangeable, but was not proven to be covalent. This phenomenon needs additional study.