Key Features of Chromium Kinetics

The important features of chromium kinetics discussed in this section have been drawn from studies in the rat unless otherwise indicated. Table 1 contains a listing of the most important studies of the kinetics of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) in rats. The results of these studies form the core of the following discussion. 

Both Cr(III) and Cr(VI) form compounds whose water solubilities range from very high to very low. Many compounds of industrial importance, such as the sodium, potassium, and ammonium chromates and dichromates, chromium trioxide (CrOs), and the hydrated Cr(III) nitrate, chloride. 

Cr(VI) Intratracheal Weber (1983) Bract and van Dura (1983), Edel and Sabbioni (1985) 

Cr(VI) from soluble salts will be absorbed from the lung if it is not reduced to Cr(III). Insoluble salts may be transported to the gastrointestinal tract, where, if the Cr(VI) escapes reduction in the stomach, it can be absorbed from the intestine. However, Cr(VI) is generally largely reduced in the acid environment of the stomach, and subsequently handled like Cr(III). Cr(III) salts are poorly absorbed, in either the lung or the gastrointestinal tract, whether or not they are soluble (see Sect. C.II). 

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