US EPA

5132277 

Journal Article 

Preliminary Carcinogenic and Cocarcinogenic Studies on Captan Following Topical Exposure in Mice 

Antony, M; Shukla, Y; Mehrotra, NK 

1994 

Yes 

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology
ISSN: 0007-4861
EISSN: 1432-0800 

52 

2 

203-211 

WOS:A1994ML03600006 

The carcinogenic and cocarcinogenic potential of captan (133062) following topical exposure was determined in female Swiss-albino-mice. The tumor initiating properties of captan were examined in seven study groups: untreated controls; captan (single dose) plus 12-o-tetradecanoyl-phobol-13-acetate (TPA); captan (multiple dose) plus TPA; 7,12-dimethyl-benzanthracene (DMBA) plus TPA; captan (single dose) plus acetone; captan (multiple dose) plus acetone; and DMSO plus TPA. Tumor promoting activity was assessed in six groups: untreated controls; DMBA plus captan; DMBA plus TPA; acetone plus captan; DMBA plus acetone; and DMBA plus DMSO. Complete carcinogenic activity was assessed in five groups: untreated controls; benzo(a)pyrene (BaP); captan; DMSO; and acetone. Total treatment period in all studies was 52 weeks during which the mice were monitored for gross and histopathological changes. Surviving mice were sacrificed at the end of 1 year for histopathological analysis of the skin. Topical application of captan was found to cause initiation of mouse skin in a two stage cancer initiation/promotion model. While a single application of captan was insufficient to initiate skin for tumor development in most mice, multiple exposure frequently led to tumor induction (cumulative incidence of 21 tumors); in contrast, 90 tumors were detected in mice treated with DMBA plus TPA. Captan failed to demonstrate any promoting or complete carcinogenic activity. The authors conclude that captan does not appear to be a strong tumor initiator in mouse skin.