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Inhalation Exposure Systems: Design, Methods and OperationCIIT Centers for Health Research, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA Correspondence: Address correspondence to: Brian A Wong, CIIT Centers for Health Research, 6 Davis Drive, PO Box 12137, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA; e-mail:bwong{at}ciit.org The respiratory system, the major route for entry of oxygen into the body, provides entry for external compounds, including pharmaceutic and toxic materials. These compounds (that might be inhaled under environmental, occupational, medical, or other situations) can be administered under controlled conditions during laboratory inhalation studies. Inhalation study results may be controlled or adversely affected by variability in four key factors: animal environment; exposure atmosphere; inhaled dose; and individual animal biological response. Three of these four factors can be managed through engineering processes. Variability in the animal environment is reduced by engineering control of temperature, humidity, oxygen content, waste gas content, and noise in the exposure facility. Exposure atmospheres are monitored and adjusted to assure a consistent and known exposure for each animal dose group. The inhaled dose, affected by changes in respiration physiology, may be controlled by exposure-specific monitoring of respiration. Selection of techniques and methods for the three factors affected by engineering allows the toxicologic pathologist to study the reproducibility of the fourth factor, the biological response of the animal.
Key Words: Inhalation exposure exposure systems aerosol generation gas generation bioaerosols nanoparticles
Toxicologic Pathology, Vol. 35, No. 1,
3-14 (2007) |
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