Toxicity Profile for Azodicarbonamide (1990)

Abstract

Azodicarbonamide (ADA) is claimed to be a skin irritant in man. Occupational exposure has been associated with irritation of the eyes and respiratory tract, asthmatic lung reactions, reduced lung function, and allergic dermatitis. In rats and mice, acute oral toxicity was low, and a single injection of ADA produced central nervous system depression in mice. In rats, some evidence of a weak antithyroid action was seen on repeated oral exposure. ADA generally displayed a low toxic potential in rats and mice following repeated inhalation although findings in the lungs of rats may have indicated an effect on the immune system. Repeated inhalation of ADA did not cause sperm abnormalities in rats and mice, although it may have induced chromosome damage in mice injected intraperitoneally and in mammalian cells in culture. ADA did not produce heritable mutations in fruit flies but it was mutagenic in bacterial tests (including the Ames). No carcinogenicity data have been found.