Biomonitoring Equivalents for triclosan

Abstract

Recent efforts worldwide have resulted in a growing database of measured concentrations of chemicals in blood and urine samples taken from the general population. However, few tools exist to assist in the interpretation of the measured values in a health risk context. Biomonitoring Equivalents (BEs) are defined as the concentration or range of concentrations of a chemical or its metabolite(s) in a biological medium (blood, urine, or other medium) consistent with an existing health-based exposure guideline, and are derived by integrating available data on pharmacokinetics with existing chemical risk assessments. This study reviews available health-based exposure guidance values for triclosan based on recent evaluations from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), the European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Products (EC SCCP) and the Australian National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS). BE values corresponding to the reference dose (RfD) or margin of safety (MOS) targets from these agencies were derived based on kinetic data (urinary excretion and plasma clearance) from human studies and measured blood concentration data in animal studies. Estimated BE values for urinary total triclosan (free plus conjugates) corresponding to the US EPA RfD and the EC-identified margin of safety target from the NOAEL are 6.4 and 2.6 mg/L, respectively (corresponding to 8.3 and 3.3 mg/g creatinine, respectively). Plasma BE values corresponding to the US EPA, EC, and Australian NICNAS values are 0.3, 0.9, and 0.4 mg/L, respectively. These values may be used as screening tools for evaluation of population biomonitoring data for triclosan in a risk assessment context.