Solubility, retention, and metabolism of intratracheally and orally administered inorganic arsenic compounds in the hamster.

The absorption, biotransformation, and tissue retention of arsenic following intratracheal and oral administration of 74As-labeled sodium arsenite, sodium arsenate, arsenic trisulfide (suspension), and lead arsenate (suspension) have been studied in hamsters, and correlated to the in vitro and in vivo solubility of the compounds. After intratracheal instillation, the clearance of 74As from the lungs was positively correlated to the in vivo solubility. Less than 0.1% of the sodium arsenite and sodium arsenate was retained in the lungs after 3 days, compared to 1.3% of the arsenic trisulfide particles and 45% of the lead arsenate particles. The latter showed a very low solubility both in vivo and in vitro. In general, orally administered arsenic had a shorter biological half-life than intratracheally administered, especially when given in the form of arsenic trisulfide or lead arsenate particles, which seemed to be absorbed to only 20-30% in the gastrointestinal tract. Reduction, oxidation, and methylation of arsenic varied to a great extent with the arsenic compound and the route of exposure. Trivalent arsenic was methylated to a greater extent than pentavalent and less soluble compounds (suspended particles) more than dissolved compounds. The trivalent arsenic compounds caused higher concentrations than the pentavalent in the upper gastrointestinal tract but not in other tissues.