Toxicology

Overview

The human body is constantly exposed to a wide variety of chemicals which have the potential to cause adverse health effects.

Such materials may be naturally occurring or anthropogenic and exposure may be accidental or intentional. 

The human body has a remarkable ability to deal with harmful chemicals and has evolved a range of strategies to detoxify and eliminate such materials. 

Understanding such mechanisms at the molecular, cellular and organism level is important so that we can mitigate the effects of such exposure. 

Therefore, the work of the Toxicology Group is primarily concerned with how toxic chemicals may interact with humans in terms of dermal and respiratory exposure and to develop means of preventing adverse health effects through reducing absorption and developing appropriate medical treatments and detection technologies. 

The Group is part of the Research Centre for Topical Drug Delivery and Toxicology.

What the group does

We currently have a diverse range of on-going research which uses a variety of methodologies ranging from molecular and cellular techniques through to non-invasive biophysical instrumentation for human volunteer studies, all supported by an extensive and state-of-the-art analytical capability. 

The main areas of current research include development of new in vitro models for assessing the toxicity of nanoparticles, the potential of dermal biomarkers for diagnostic or prognostic applications, the development and characterisation of whole body decontamination systems and clinical studies on the effectiveness of topical products. 

We also provide technical support and advice to UK and international government departments as part of the Group’s acknowledged expertise in areas relating to civilian defence.  

In summary, our activities currently include:

• Cellular metabolism and toxicology
• In vitro dermal absorption
• Decontamination
• Medical countermeasures
• Biodosimetry and forensics
• Clinical research trials (topical formulations)
• Chemical incident response support

Key projects

Advanced studies of mass casualty decontamination

This project builds upon previous work performed as part of the highly successful ORCHIDS project and aims to provide an evidence-based guide for emergency responders dealing with incidents involving the release of toxic materials. The work is being performed in collaboration with the UK’s Health Protection Agency.   

Development of a human model of incontinence-associated dermatitis

This project, sponsored by Bracco Diagnostics Inc., will seek to improve our understanding of how dermatitis develops in immobile patients and will provide a new model for subsequently assessing the efficacy of topical therapies.  

Development and validation of a novel dermal absorption measurement system for assessing exposure to nanoparticles

Current methods for assessing skin exposure to chemicals are based on a long-established system which uses immobile samples of skin tissue. The recent emergence of nanotechnologies has focused attention on developing a more relevant model for identifying materials which may penetrate the skin via mechanisms other than passive diffusion. The purpose of this study, funded by the Health Protection Agency, is to characterise and validate a new dermal absorption model based on actively flexing skin samples.  

Sebum as a biomonitoring matrix

The objectives of this internally-funded project are to establish the normal mixture of chemicals present on the skin surface and to subsequently identify the presence of individual chemicals which may be indicative of disease states or exposure to environmental pollutants.  

Prediction of skin irritation and sensitisation using an ex vivo skin culture model

In collaboration with MedPharm Ltd this project is developing a model using excised human skin to predict the irritancy index and degree of sensitisation of topical excipients, APIs and formulations. The model is intended to reduce the need for animal testing thus presenting a cheaper, quicker and more ethically acceptable technique to existing models such as the Draize test. It advances current in vitro alternatives through its use of actual human skin and the combination of permeation and mechanistic parameters.

Contact details  

Please contact Rob Chilcott by email or by post (Department of Pharmacy, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, AL10 9AB).