Work

Deriving exposure route-specific cancer slope factors of carcinogenic chemicals via PBK modeling

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: • A modeling approach was proposed to derive route-specific cancer slope factors (CSFs). • The relationship between biotransfer factors and cancer slope factors was determined. • Volatile chemicals generally showed lower inhalation CSFs than oral/dermal values. • Human exposure to chemicals can pose certain cancer risks (CR > 10 −6 ). • It is recommended to improve the modeling method with human biomonitoring data. Carcinogenic chemicals entering the body via different exposure routes result in varying internal doses and thus influence the tumors development. The internal doses can be quantified using biotransfer factors (BTF) simulated by the physiologically based kinetic (PBK) model. This study proposed a modeling method to analyze the quantitative relationships between BTF and cancer slope factors (CSFs). When the CSF for one exposure route is known, the CSF values for the other two routes can be derived using the relationships. A total of 45 carcinogenic chemicals were selected, and their oral CSF (CSF oral ) and BTF values were collected for analysis. The results demonstrated that route-specific CSFs of chemicals can be different due to their physicochemical properties. In addition, the derived route-specific CSFs are further utilized to conduct a comprehensive cancer risk assessment. The results revealed that cancer risk caused by most environmental chemical exposure exceeded 1 × 10 −6 , suggesting that long-term exposure to chemicals would pose certain human cancer risks. These findings highlight the importance of exposure route-specific CSFs for accurate cancer risk assessment and provide a scientific reference for environmental agencies to refine the risk assessment system.

Source: Environment International

DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2025.109483

Authors: Yabi Huang, Zijian Li

Institution: Sun Yat-sen University

Language: English

Topic: Carcinogens and Genotoxicity Assessment

Subfield: Cancer Research

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $4,750