© 1993 Oxford University Press
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Comparative Ability of Various PCBs, PCDFs, and TCDD to Induce Cytochrome P450 1A1 and 1A2 Activity Following 4 Weeks of Treatment1



,3
*Center for Environmental Medicine
Environmental Toxicology Division Health Effects Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency MD-66 Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711
Curriculum in Toxicology, University of North Carolina ar Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
Received April 17, 1992; accepted July 30, 1992
Toxic equivalency factors (TEFs) have been proposed for di benzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans, and polyhalogenated biphenyls. The proposed toxic equivalency factors (TEFs), which are presently being evaluated in our laboratory, are currently used to estimate the potential health risk associated with exposure to complex mixtures containing these chemicals. In preliminary studies, equally potent doses, based on the published TEEs and relative enzyme-inducing potency, of 2,3,7,8-tetrachioro-dibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzofuran, 1,2,3,7,8-pentachlorodibenzofuran, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9-octachloro-dibenzofuran, 3,4,3',4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl, 2,3,4,3',4'-pentachlo-robiphenyl, 3,4,5,3',4'-pentachlorobiphenyl, 2,3,4,3',4',5'-hex-achlorobiphenyl, 2,3,4,5,3',4'-hexachlorobiphenyl, and 3,4,5,3',4',5'-hexachlorobiphenyl were administered to female B6C3F1 mice 5 days a week over a 4-week period. Hepatic, skin, and lung cytochrome P450 1A1 and hepatic 1A2 activities were determined for all chemicals tested and compared to those from TCDD-treated mice. These initial studies indicate that the present TEFs do not reliably predict induction potency for many of the chemicals. Furthermore, our data suggest that the relative inductive potency of these chemicals may be tissue specific and that estimates of TEFs based on hepatic ethoxyresorufin O-de ethylase activity may not accurately reflect the potency of these chemicals in nonhepatic tissue. The TEFs proposed for the "dioxin-like" polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) overestimate the potency of these compounds by factors of 101000. The present study indicates that more experimental data are required before TEFs for PCBs should be used in regulatory decision making.