Captan and Folpet
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What is Captan and Folpet?
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Captan and Folpet are fungicide that kills, of course, fungus. These compounds along with a third, captafol, are normally and commonly called chloroalkylthio fungicides because of the presence of side chains that contain chlorine, carbon, and sulfur. Interestingly enough, this fungicide is extensively used in agriculture and have a unique property that does not affect humans like others fungicide do. According to Elliot B. Gordon, Captan was first register in the United States on March 8, 1949, as a fruit spray. After year passed, Captan became a fungicide that was very useful and many have wanted to capitalize it for profit. It demonstrated a unique property that has a high efficaciously and low toxicity. Therefore, Folpet later came into play and was synthesized after Captan. (3)
Below is an example of a Captan and Folpet product which is found in the US and the UK. It is used to eliminate unwanted fungus that could potentially harm the crops such as fruits, vegetables, or other agriculture crops.
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How does one get exposed to Captan and Folpet?
There various ways of being exposed to Captan and Folpet, however, the most common ways of being exposed are usually through the skin or eyes, breathing in or accidentally eating the product. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, you may be exposed to very small amounts of captan and folpet in your diet from residues on foods.(2)
Signs and Symptoms:
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Permanent Eyes Damage Diarrhea Vomitting
According to the EPA, Captan and Folpet can cause serious problems to the eyes. In fact, concentrated Captan or Folpet have illustrated permanent eye damages in rabbits. Therefore, from this illustration we can assume that it could lead to detrimental effect on humans as well. Additionally, Captan and Folpet is generally low in toxicity when consumed, however, consuming in high amount of Captan can cause diarrhea and possibly vomiting. (1)
Mechanism of Action:
Captan and Folpet quickly breaks down into a chemical compound called Tetrahydrophthalimide in the digestive system.(1) When humans consumed captan or Folpet, blood levels of tetrahydrophthalimide ultimately peaked at 10 hours after ingestion, therefore, about all the tetrahydrophthalimide was gone from the body after 96 hours interval.(2) According to a study that was conducted in a rodent, about 92 to 94% of the dose was excreted in urine and feces after 96 hours or approximately 4 days.(3)Additionally, one study illustrated low skin absorption when captan was applied to human arms.(4)
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Historical/Unique Exposure:
There have been no major events up to this date about Captan and Folpet. However, the discovery and production of this product has had made a national impact for the agriculture environment due to its low toxicity and high in efficaciously. Furthermore, according to an article published by Kevin. P Shea, he argued that Captan and Folpet were one of the among pesticides that caused birth-defecting deformities in 1969.(6)
Resources:
- Amendment to the 1999 Captan Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED); U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, U.S. Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 2004
- Berthet, A.; Bouchard, M.; Danuser, B. Toxicokinetics of Captan and Folpet Biomarkers in Orally Exposed Volunteers. J. Appl. Toxicol. 2011, 32, 194–201.
- Pesticide Residues in Food-1995. Joint Meeting of the FAO Panel of Experts on Pesticide Residues in Food and the Environment (JMPR): Captan; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and World Health Organization Core Assessment Group: Geneva, Switzerland, 1995.
- Berthet, A.; Bouchard, M.; Vernez, D. Toxicokinetics of Captan and Folpet Biomarkers in Dermally Exposed Volunteers. J. Appl. Toxicol. 2011, 32, 202–209.
- Gordon, E. B. (2009, December 16). Captan and Folpet. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780123743671000902
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Captan and Folpet. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00139157.1972.9932990?journalCode=venv20