Lack of in vivo mutagenicity of carbendazim in the liver and glandular stomach of MutaMice.

BACKGROUND: Carbendazim (methyl 2-benzimidazolecarbamate, CASRN: 10605-21-7) exhibits spindle poisoning effects and is widely used as a fungicide. With respect to genotoxicity, carbendazim is deemed to be non-mutagenic in vitro, but it causes indicative DNA damage in vivo and chromosome aberrations in vitro and in vivo. In this study, we examined the mutagenicity of carbendazim in vivo.

RESULTS: MutaMice were treated with carbendazim orally at doses of 0 (corn oil), 250, 500, and 1,000 mg/kg/day once a day for 28 days. A lacZ assay was used to determine the mutant frequency (MF) in the liver and glandular stomach of mice. MutaMice were administered up to the maximum dose recommended by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Test Guidelines for Chemicals No. 488 (OECD TG488). The lacZ MFs in the liver and glandular stomach of carbendazim-treated animals were not significantly different from those in the negative control animals. In contrast, positive control animals exhibited a significant increase in MFs in both the liver and glandular stomach.

CONCLUSIONS: Carbendazim is non-mutagenic in the liver and glandular stomach of MutaMice following oral treatment.