The majority of dietary thyroid supplements studied contained clinically relevant amounts of T4 and T3, some of which exceeded common treatment doses for hypothyroidism. These amounts of thyroid hormone, found in easily accessible dietary supplements, potentially expose patients to the risk of alterations in thyroid levels even to the point of developing iatrogenic thyrotoxicosis. The current study results emphasize the importance of patient and provider education regarding the use of dietary supplements and highlight the need for greater regulation of these products, which hold potential danger to public health.
Chemical substances migrate outwards from within the body to the skin surface by diffusion from cutaneous capillaries across the epidermis. Heretofore, study of transepidermal chemical emissions have been restricted to substances which are in the vapor phase at skin surface temperature. We have investigated outward transcutaneous chemical migration of nongaseous chemicals by devising an occlusive transcutaneous chemical collection system, consisting of a tape-encased plug of gelled saline in which activated carbon is dispersed. Investigations of nine chemicals in ‘fuzzy’ rats, rhesus monkeys, and man provide data which are consistent with a general theory of outward transcutaneous chemical migration. This noninvasive continuous transcutaneous sampling technique provides a new method for investigating skin permeability in vivo and may provide a basis for convenient diagnosis and monitoring of chemical exposure.
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