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The information in this profile may be out-of-date. It was last revised in 1996. EXTOXNET no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

Please visit the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) to find updated pesticide fact sheets. If you don't find a fact sheet related to your question, feel free to call 1-800-858-7378. NPIC is open five days a week from 8:00am to 12:00pm Pacific Time.

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E X T O X N E T

Extension Toxicology Network

Pesticide Information Profiles

A Pesticide Information Project of Cooperative Extension Offices of Cornell University, Oregon State University, the University of Idaho, and the University of California at Davis and the Institute for Environmental Toxicology, Michigan State University. Major support and funding was provided by the USDA/Extension Service/National Agricultural Pesticide Impact Assessment Program.

EXTOXNET primary files maintained and archived at Oregon State University

Revised June 1996

Captan

Trade and Other Names: Trade names for captan include Agrox, Captal, Captec, Captol, Captonex, Clomitane, Merpan, Meteoro, Orthocide, Phytocape, Sepicap, Sorene, and Vancide 89. Captan may be found in formulations with a wide range of other pesticides.

Regulatory Status: Captan is a General Use Pesticide (GUP), though most uses of the compound on food crops were cancelled in the U.S. in 1989. It is categorized as toxicity class IV - practically nontoxic. However, it bears the Signal Words DANGER or CAUTION if packaged in concentrated form because it can be irritating to the skin and eyes.

Chemical Class: phthalimide

Introduction: Captan is a nonsystemic phthalimide fungicide used to control diseases of many fruit, ornamental, and vegetable crops. It improves fruit finish by giving it a healthy, bright colored appearance. It is used in agricultural production as well as by the home gardener. A major use of captan is in apple production.

Formulation: Not Available

Toxicological Effects:

• Acute toxicity: The rat oral LD50 for captan ranges from 8400 to 15,000 mg/kg, indicating very low acute toxicity [15]. The mouse LD50 is 7000 mg/kg. Sheep showed no effect at doses of 200 mg/kg, but experienced deaths at 250 mg/kg. The inhalation LC50 (2-hour) in mice is 5.0 mg/L [8]. Rabbits showed little or no skin sensitization to captan, while guinea pigs were moderately sensitive [6]. Workers exposed to high concentrations of captan in air (6 mg/m3) experienced eye irritation including burning, itching, and tearing. Skin irritation also occurred in some cases [6].
• Chronic toxicity: Rats fed up to 750 mg/kg/day of Orthocide for 4 weeks had decreased food intake and body weights [6]. No deaths occurred in pigs given as much as 420 to 4000 mg/kg/day in the diet for 12 to 25 weeks, however, cattle given six doses of 250 mg/kg experienced varied toxic effects, including death [6].
• Reproductive effects: Pregnant mice exposed by inhalation to high doses of captan for 4 hours a day during days 6 to 15 of gestation showed significant mortality or weight loss. Fetal mortality accompanied these effects. Mice fed 50 mg/kg/day over three generations reproduced normally. Captan is unlikely to cause reproductive effects in humans at usual levels of exposure [6,8].
• Teratogenic effects: Teratogenicity studies with rats, rabbits, hamsters, and dogs have given both negative and positive results. However, the weight of evidence suggests that captan does not produce birth defects [16].
• Mutagenic effects: Although captan was mutagenic in some laboratory tests on isolated tissue cultures, the majority of evidence indicates that captan is nonmutagenic [16].
• Carcinogenic effects: There is strong evidence that captan causes cancer in female mice and in male rats at high doses. In addition, captan is chemically similar to two other pesticides, folpet and captafol, that have been shown to produce cancer in test animals. Tumors were associated with the gastrointestinal tract and, to a lesser degree, with the kidneys. Tumors appeared in the test animals at doses of about 300 mg/kg/day [6,8].
• Organ toxicity: Most organ-specific effects are found in the kidneys of rats at and above doses of 100 mg/kg/day.

• Fate in humans and animals: Studies in several animal species have shown that captan is rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and is rapidly metabolized. Residues are excreted primarily in the urine. Rats given captan orally excreted a third in the feces and half in the urine within 24 hours. A cow fed small amounts in its diet for 4 days had no captan in the milk at a 0.01 mg/L detection limit, nor could any be detected in the urine at a 0.1 mg/L detection limit [6].

Ecological Effects:

• Effects on birds: Captan is practically nontoxic to birds. The LD50 is greater than 5000 mg/kg in mallard ducks and pheasants. The LD50 is 2000 to 4000 mg/kg in bobwhite quail [1]. High doses administered for 90 days to chickens caused an 80% reduction in the number of eggs produced, but had no effect on the fertility or hatchability of the eggs produced [6].
• Effects on aquatic organisms: Captan is very highly toxic to fish. The LC50 (96-hour) for technical captan ranges from 0.056 mg/L in cutthroat trout and chinook salmon to 0.072 mg/L in bluegill [1]. The LC50 for captan in the aquatic invertebrate Daphnia magna is 7 to 10 mg/L, indicating that the compound is moderately toxic to this and other aquatic invertebrates [8]. Captan has a low to moderate tendency to accumulate in living tissue. Fish exposed for 3 days to concentrations which would be expected in a pond following treatment of an adjacent watershed at a rate of 1 lb/acre, had no detectable residues of captan [6]. Estimates of the bioconcentration factor range from 10 to 1000 [9].
• Effects on other organisms: Captan is not toxic to bees when used as directed [1].

Environmental Fate:

• Breakdown in soil and groundwater: Captan has a low persistence in soil, with a half-life of 1 to 10 days in most soil environments [6]. Captan was not detected in field studies of its mobility at application rates of up to 42 kg active ingredient per hectare [9].
• Breakdown in water: Captan is rapidly degraded in near neutral water. Half-lives of 23 to 54 hours and 1 to 7 hours have been reported at various acidities and temperatures [6]. The effective residual life in water is 2 weeks [15].
• Breakdown in vegetation: Captan is taken up through leaves and roots and translocated throughout the plant. Residual fungitoxicity remains for 23 days after application on potato leaves, but residues were below the detection limit within 40 days after application [6]. Some varieties of apples, pears, lettuce seeds, celery, and tomato seeds may be injured by captan at high doses [1].

Physical Properties:

• Appearance: Captan is a white to buff colored compound in the technical form. It is a colorless crystal in its pure form [1]. The technical product has a pungent smell.
• Chemical Name: 3a,4,7,7a-tetrahydro-2-[(trichloromethyl)thio]-1H-isoindole-1,3(2H)-dione
• CAS Number: 133-06-2
• Molecular Weight: 300.61
• Water Solubility: 3.3 mg/L @ 25 C [1]
• Solubility in Other Solvents: xylene s.; acetone s.; chloroform v.s.; cyclohexanone v.s. [1]
• Melting Point: 178 C [1]
• Vapor Pressure: 1.3 mPa @ 25 C [1]
• Partition Coefficient: 2.7853 [1]
• Adsorption Coefficient: 200 [11]

Exposure Guidelines:

• ADI: 0.1 mg/kg/day [12]
• MCL: Not Available
• RfD: 0.13 mg/kg/day [13]
• PEL: Not Available
• HA: Not Available
• TLV: 5 mg/m3 (8-hour) [17]

Basic Manufacturer:

Drexel Chemical Company
1700 Channel Avenue
Memphis, TN 38113

• Phone: 901-774-4370
• Emergency:Not Available
  

References:

References for the information in this PIP can be found in Reference List Number 10

DISCLAIMER: The information in this profile does not in any way replace or supersede the information on the pesticide product labeling or other regulatory requirements. Please refer to the pesticide product labeling.