Incorporation of acute dynamic ventilation changes into a standardized physiologically based pharmacokinetic model.

A seven-compartment physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model incorporating a dynamic ventilation response has been developed to predict normalized internal dose from inhalation exposure to a large range of volatile gases. The model uses a common set of physiologic parameters, including standardized ventilation rates and cardiac outputs for rat and human. This standardized model is validated against experimentally measured blood and tissue concentrations for 21 gases. For each of these gases, body-mass-normalized critical internal dose (blood concentration) is established, as calculated using exposure concentration and time duration specified by the lowest observed adverse effect level (LOAEL) or the acute exposure guideline level (AEGL). The dynamic ventilation changes are obtained by combining the standardized PBPK model with the Toxic Gas Assessment Software 2.0 (TGAS-2), a validated acute ventilation response model. The combined TGAS-2P model provides a coupled, transient ventilation and pharmacokinetic response that predicts body mass normalized internal dose that is correlated with deleterious outcomes. The importance of ventilation in pharmacokinetics is illustrated in a simulation of the introduction of Halon 1301 into an environment of fire gases.