2-3-diaminophenazine and carbendazim

The acute toxicity and genotoxicity of carbendazim, two impurities (3-amino-2-hydroxyphenazine and 2,3-diaminophenazine) and one metabolite (2-aminobenzimidazole) to Eisenia foetida were assessed using artificial soil test and comet assay respectively. Acute toxicity results showed carbendazim was moderately toxic to the earthworms with 14 day-LC50 of 8.6 mg/kg dry soil while 3-amino-2-hydroxyphenazine, 2,3-diaminophenazine, and 2-aminobenzimidazole were of low toxicity with 14 day-LC50 values of 19.0, 14.9, and 27.7 mg/kg dry soil respectively (nominal concentration). The olive tail moment and percentage of DNA in the tail were used as genotoxicity indices, and carbendazim could significantly induce DNA damage to the earthworm coelomocytes with obviously positive dose- and duration-response relationships while the other three substances showed similar (p = 0.05) genotoxicity results to the negative controls in all of the tests.

Topics: Animals; Benzimidazoles; Carbamates; Comet Assay; DNA Damage; Oligochaeta; Phenazines

Benomyl (methyl [1-[(butylamino)carbonyl]-1H-benzimidazol-2- yl]carbamate) and its major metabolite carbendazim (methyl 2-benzimidazolecarbamate) are major agricultural systemic fungicides. These compounds inhibit fungal microtubular function and thereby cause nondisjunction of chromosomes at cell division. Several investigators have proposed that these compounds can also cause gene mutations (base-pair substitutions). In this laboratory, no mutagenic activity was observed with either benomyl (analytical grade) or Benlate (samples tested up to 500 and 1200 micrograms/plate, respectively, the limit of cytotoxicity) in the Salmonella/Ames plate-incorporation test in either base-pair substitution (TA100 and TA1535) or frameshift-sensitive (TA98 and TA1537) strains with or without S9 metabolic activation. However, some carbendazim preparations caused mutations in frameshift-sensitive strains at very high concentrations (> or = 5000 micrograms/plate) with metabolic activation. The mutagenic activity was not due to the major carbendazim metabolite, methyl (5-hydroxy-1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)carbamate (5-OH MBC), since 5-OH MBC was not mutagenic with (up to 20,000 micrograms/plate) or without (up to 16,000 micrograms/plate) activation. Subsequently, two highly mutagenic contaminants, 2,3-diaminophenazine (DAP) and 2-amino-3-hydroxyphenazine (AHP) were detected in mutagenic carbendazim samples. In those samples, DAP and AHP contaminant levels ranged as high as 46.5 and 11.6 ppm, respectively. No evidence of mutagenicity could be detected in preparations in which the DAP content was < 1.8 ppm. The mutagenic activity of these two contaminants was further investigated in strain TA98. Without activation, DAP and AHP were positive at test concentrations as low as 5 and 10 micrograms/plate, respectively. In the presence of S9, mutations were detected at much lower concentrations (beginning at 0.025 and 0.05 microgram/plate, respectively). These results indicate that carbendazim samples containing DAP or AHP at levels as low as 5 or 10 ppm, respectively, would be positive in the Salmonella/Ames test with activation when tested at 5000 micrograms/plate. Purified carbendazim is not mutagenic.

Topics: Amines; Benomyl; Benzimidazoles; Biotransformation; Carbamates; Frameshift Mutation; Fungicides, Industrial; Microsomes, Liver; Mutagenicity Tests; Mutagens; Phenazines; Salmonella typhimurium