Richard Alan Jackson

Reproduction, teratogenic, and mutagenic studies with benomyl

Abstract In a three-generation rat reproduction study with benomyl fungicide, no reproduction or lactation differences were observed among control and test groups of animals at the highest dietary level of 0.25% benomyl. No pathologic changes were found in tissues from weanling pups of the F 3B litter. In a teratogenic study, feeding of as much as 0.50% benomyl (highest dietary level tested) to pregnant rats from days 6 through 15 of the gestation period did not affect the outcome of pregnancy or embryonal development. In a dominant lethal study in rats, benomyl at the highest dietary level tested (0.25%) induced no dominant lethal mutation. A separate study showed that substantial amounts of a metabolite, methyl 2-benzimidazolecarbamate (MBC), were present in the blood of a rat 1-hr after oral dosing with [2- 14 C]benomyl.