Aqueous Soap Solutions of Carcinogenic Hydrocarbons

THE fact that carcinogenic hydrocarbons are insoluble in water has limited the means of administering them experimentally to the use of oily solutions or colloidal suspensions. In feeding experiments, it is a practical advantage to be able to administer substances dissolved in drinking water. Lorenz and Stewart¹ have used hydrocarbons dissolved in stable oil-in-water emulsions. Their method, was adopted in some experiments in this laboratory. Where it is desired to achieve rapid absorption of a carcinogenic hydrocarbon from a mucous membrane or from the site of parenteral injection, an aqueous solution has obvious advantages.