Toxicokinetic model of the pyrethroid pesticide lambda-cyhalothrin, main exposure route and dose reconstruction predictions in agricultural workers

A toxicokinetic model of the pyrethroid insecticide lambda-cyhalothrin (LCT) was developed to relate absorbed doses to urinary cis-3-(2-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoroprop-1-en-1-yl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylic acid (CFMP) metabolite levels used as a biomarker of exposure. The model then served to reconstruct absorbed doses in agricultural workers and their probability of exceeding the EFSA Acceptable occupational Exposure Level (AOEL). The toxicokinetic model was able to reproduce the temporal profiles of CFMP in the urine of operators spraying pesticides using the optimized model parameters (adjusted to human volunteer data). Modeling also showed that simulation of an inadvertent oral exposure mainly was the exposure scenario giving the best fit to CFMP urinary time-course data in applicators. With the dermal model parameters optimized from data in volunteers, simulation of a dermal exposure in applicators did not allow to reproduce the observed peak excretions and urinary metabolite levels; extremely high applied dermal doses would be required but still simulated dermal penetration rate would remain too slow. Simulation of an inhalation exposure allowed to reproduce the observed time-courses, but with unrealistic air concentrations. For applicators with the highest urinary concentrations, there was a probability of exceeding the AOEL at some points during the biomonitoring period [>50% probability of exceeding for 27% of 24-h samples]; for non-applicator workers the probability of exceeding the AOEL value was very low [corresponding value of 5%]. Furthermore, the median [95% CI] estimates of 10 000 Monte Carlo simulations led to a biological reference value corresponding to the AOEL of 116 [113–119] ng/kg bw/d and 7.5 [7.3–7.7] μg/L. Overall, 7% of applicators and 1% of workers performing weeding and strawberry picking had a probability of exceeding this biological reference value. As a next step, it would be interesting to apply these methods to multiple exposure to various contaminants.