| toxicity summary | IDENTIFICATION AND USE: Flumetsulam is a broad-spectrum, season-long herbicide used in the control of broadleaf weeds in soybeans, corn, and other major crops. HUMAN STUDIES: There are no data available. ANIMAL STUDIES: Flumetsulam did not induce sensitization following dermal exposure in mice. Beagle dogs were fed flumetsulam at nominal dosages of 100-1000 mg/kg/day or 1500 or 2500 mg/kg/day for 2 weeks. In females, degeneration and regeneration of the renal tubular epithelial cells, and lymphocytic infiltration of hepatic sinusoids were reported. In mice fed flumetsulam for 2 weeks, decreased kidney weights were reported in males at dietary concentrations of 1.5 and 3.0% and in females given 3.0%, which corresponded to dosages >3500 mg/kg/day. In rats, dietary exposure to concentrations of up to 5% for 2-4 weeks identified the kidney as the primary target organ. Effects in the kidneys consisted of focal necrosis and inflammation of the papilla, and tubular epithelial cell degeneration and regeneration. The dog appeared to be the most sensitive species to long-term exposure to flumetsulam. Administration of dosages of 500 mg/kg/day in the diet for 1 year produced inflammatory and atrophic changes in the kidney, accompanied by calculi in females. There was no evidence of a tumorigenic or carcinogenic response in either rats or mice at dosages up to 1000 mg/kg/day in a 2-year study. Gavage administration of flumetsulam to pregnant rabbits at dosages of 500-700 mg/kg/day produced dose-related episodes of anorexia, with sequelae secondary to the altered nutritional status, but no embryo-fetotoxicity or teratogenicity accompanied these maternal effects. No evidence of maternal toxicity, embryo-fetotoxicity ot teratogenicity was observed in rats following exposure of pregnant females to 1000 mg/kg/day in the diet, though the weights of the ceca were increased, consistent with effects noted in previous dietary studies. No parental toxicity or alterations in reproductive performance occurred in rats given up to 1000 mg/kg/day over two generations. Flumetsulam was negative for mutagenic activity in an in vivo bacterial reverse mutation assay , an in vitro cytogenetic assay in Chinese hamster ovary cells , an in vitro rat hepatocyte unscheduled DNA synthesis assay, and an in vivo cytogenetic assay in mouse bone marrow cells. |