Trichloroethylene exposure. Simulation of uptake, excretion, and metabolism using a mathematical model.

The absorption, distribution, and excretion of trichloroethylene, as well as the kinetics of formation and elimination of trichloroethanol (TCE) and trichloroacetic acid (TCA) were simulated by a mathematical model. The results of this model have been satisfactorily compared with those obtained experimentally from pulmonary elimination of the solvent and from urinary excretion of the metabolites. The model permitted a study of the distribution of the solvent in the different tissues of the organism as well as an evaluation of the body burden of TCE and TCA. The influence of the duration and repetition of the exposure on the urinary eliminations of TCE and TCA was studied, and showed that the excretion of the first metabolite represents the most recent exposure while that of the second is related to the average exposure of the preceding days. The study of the pulmonary elimination of trichloroethylene during single or repeated exposures showed a linear relationship between the alveolar concentration of the solvent approximately 15 hours after the end of the exposure and the quantity of trichloroethylene accumulated in the fatty tissues.