Chlorantraniliprole
(endorsed 2011)
Guideline
Based on human health concerns, chlorantraniliprole in drinking water should not exceed 6 mg/L.
Related chemicals
Chlorantraniliprole (CAS 500008-45-7) is in the anthranilic diamide class of chemicals. There are no other pesticides in this class (Tomlin 2006).
Human risk statement
With good water quality management practices, the exposure of the general population is expected to be well below levels that may cause health concerns.
If present in drinking water as a result of a spillage or through misuse, chlorantraniliprole would not be a health concern unless the concentration exceeded 6 mg/L. Minor excursions above this level would need to occur over a significant period to be a health concern, as the health-based guideline is based on long-term effects.
With good water quality management practices, pesticides should not be detected in source waters used for drinking water supplies. Persistent detection of pesticides may indicate inappropriate use or accidental spillage, and investigation is required in line with established procedures in the risk management plan for the particular water source.
General description
Uses: Chlorantraniliprole is an insecticide used to control pests on turf, cotton and a variety of fruits and vegetables. It is also used on residential lawns.
There are registered products containing chlorantraniliprole in Australia. These products are for professional and home garden use and are applied using ground boom sprayers, hand-held sprayers or aerial spraying. Data on currently registered products are available from the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority.
Exposure sources: The main sources of public exposure to chlorantraniliprole are the use of the home garden products, and residues in food. Residue levels in crops grown according to good agricultural practice are generally low.
Agricultural use may potentially lead to contamination of sources waters through processes such as run-off, spray drift or entry into groundwater.
Typical values in Australian drinking water
No sufficient monitoring data in drinking water are available. Modelling incorporating data on environmental fate and physico-chemical characteristics has been used to estimate concentrations of chlorantraniliprole. Environmental concentrations of chlorantraniliprole from long-term exposure are estimated to be 3.65 µg/L for surface water and 1.06 µg/L for groundwater in the USA (USEPA 2008a) and 63 µg/L for groundwater in Canada (Health Canada 2008). There are no published reports on chlorantraniliprole occurrence in Australian drinking water supplies.
Treatment of drinking water
There are no published reports on methods of removal of chlorantraniliprole from drinking water. However, granular activated carbon, reverse osmosis and advanced oxidation process would be probably effective. Photodegradation and alkaline-catalysed hydrolysis may also reduce chlorantraniliprole concentrations in water (USEPA 2008a)
Measurement
High performance liquid chromatography–ultraviolet detection, gas chromatography/electron capture detection, and liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) have all been reported for the determination of chlorantraniliprole in water matrices (USEPA 2008b). LC-MS-MS is the most commonly used method. The LC-MS-MS DuPont-11374 method can achieve a limit of quantitation of 0.01 mg/L.
History of the health values
The current acceptable daily intake (ADI) for chlorantraniliprole is 1.58 mg per kg of bodyweight (mg/kg bw), based on a no-observed-effect level (NOEL) of 158 mg/kg bw/day in an 18-month dietary study in mice. The NOEL is based on the appearance of eosinophilic foci accompanied by hepatocellular hypertrophy and increased liver weight. The ADI incorporates a safety factor of 100 and it was established in 2008.
A health value has not been previously set for chlorantraniliprole by NHMRC.
Health considerations
Metabolism: Chlorantraniliprole is rapidly absorbed (5-12 hours) from the gastrointestinal tract and is widely distributed throughout the body. Metabolism is extensive and there is a low potential for accumulation. Excretion is substantially complete by 48-72 hours, mainly via bile and faeces.
Acute effects: Chlorantraniliprole has low acute oral and dermal toxicity. It is a slight eye irritant but is not a skin irritant or a skin sensitiser.
Short-term and long-term effects: Short-term and long-term dietary studies in mice, rats and dogs produced adaptive liver changes including increases in liver weights (at ≥658 mg/kg bw/day in mice; at ≥128 mg/kg bw/day in rats; and at ≥1163 mg/kg bw/day in dogs) and cytochrome P450 levels (at ≥658 mg/kg bw/day in female mice) and microvesiculation of the adrenal cortex (at ≥7.71 mg/kg bw/day in rats). Additional studies demonstrated that this microvesiculation did not adversely affect adrenal gland function. Long-term studies also revealed eosinophilic foci accompanied by hepatocellular hypertrophy at high dose levels. The NOEL was 158 mg/kg bw/day, and this NOEL is the basis for the ADI.
Carcinogenicity: Based on long-term studies in mice and rats, there is no evidence of carcinogenicity for chlorantraniliprole.
Genotoxicity: Chlorantraniliprole is not considered to be genotoxic, based on short-term in vitro and in vivo studies.
Reproductive and developmental effects: A reproduction study in rats and developmental studies in rats and rabbits did not produce any evidence of effects on reproductive parameters or on foetal development.
Neurotoxicity, immunotoxicity: In medium-term studies in mice and rats, there was no evidence of neurotoxicity. In 28-day studies in mice and rats, there was no evidence of effects on the immune system.
Poison Schedule: Chlorantraniliprole is considered not to require control by scheduling due to its low toxicity and is therefore included in Appendix B of the Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons No.1, 2010 (the Poisons Standard)(DoHA 2010). Current versions of the Poisons Standard should be consulted for further information.
Derivation of the health-based guideline
The health-based guideline of 6 mg/L for chlorantraniliprole was determined as follows:
where:
158 mg/kg bw/day is a NOEL based on a long-term (18-month) dietary study in mice.
70 kg is taken as the average weight of an adult.
0.1 is a proportionality factor based on the assumption that 10% of the ADI will arise from the consumption of drinking water.
2 L/day is the average maximum amount of water consumed by an adult.
100 is the safety factor applied to the NOEL derived from animal studies. This safety factor incorporates a factor of 10 for interspecies extrapolation and 10 for intraspecies variation.
References
NOTE: The toxicological information used in developing this fact sheet is from reports and data held by the Department of Health, Office of Chemical Safety.
DoHA (2010) The Poisons Standard; Schedule 1-Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons, Department of Health and Ageing, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.
Health Canada Pest Management Regulatory Agency (2008). Evaluation Report Chlorantraniliprole ER2008-03. [www.pmra-arla.gc.ca/english/pdf/erc/er2008-03-eng.pdf]
Tomlin CD (ed) (2006). The Pesticide Manual: a world compendium, 14th Edition, British Crop Production Council, UK.
USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) (2008a). Chlorantraniliprole Pesticide Fact Sheet. Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances.
USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) (2008b). Chlorantraniliprole: proposed time-limited pesticide tolerance. Federal Register: October 1, 73(191):57040-57046.
Last updated
