Dermal Exposure to Heavy Fuel Oils

IOM scientists have recently published an article on dermal exposure to heavy fuel oils (HFO). Heavy fuel oils are a group of petroleum streams produced in oil refineries from crude oil. Because they are very viscous and have low volatility, skin exposure is an important route of exposure; however, until recently, there were no methods available to measure dermal exposure to these oils.

We developed a method for quantifying skin exposure to HFO using chemical analysis of a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon as a marker of exposure. Measurements were carried out in several different use situations during the life cycle of the materials. The results of these measurements were used by about 40 EU-based oil companies in their registration dossier for HFO under the European REACH regulations.

Skin exposure is important for a number of hazardous substances because they may be taken up through the skin or can have local irritant or allergic effects on the skin. Unfortunately, dermal exposure measurement data are often lacking and there are currently no software modelling tools that can provide reliable dermal exposure estimates.

Dermal exposure studies are urgently required to address the paucity of data that is likely to exist for many chemicals that must be authorised under the REACH regulations. The results from this type of study could also be used to develop higher tier exposure models, such as a dermal version of the Advanced REACH Tool.