Promecarb

(Non-Specific -- Carbamate Pesticide, Solid, n.o.s.) Stay upwind; keep out of low areas. Move container from fire area if you can do it without risk. Fight fire from maximum distance. Dike fire control water for later disposal; do not scatter the material. Wear positive pressure breathing apparatus and special protective clothing.

Biological Exposure Indices (BEI) [ACGIH] - Acetylcholinesterase activity in red blood cells = 70% of individual's baseline; Butylcholinesterase activity in serum or plasma = 60% of individual's baseline; Sample at end of shift; [TLVs and BEIs]

(Non-Specific -- Carbamate Pesticide, Solid, n.o.s.) Keep unnecessary people away; isolate hazard areas and deny entry. Stay upwind and keep out of low areas. Do not touch spilled material or breathe the dusts, vapors, or fumes from burning materials. Use water spray to reduce vapors. Do not handle broken packages without protective equipment. Wash away any material that may have contacted the body with soap and water. Take up small spills with sand or other noncombustible absorbent material and place in containers for later disposal.

0.11 [mg/m3]

1.2 [mg/m3]

7.1 [mg/m3]

For emergency situations, wear a positive pressure, pressure-demand, full facepiece self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) or pressure- demand supplied air respirator with escape SCBA and a fully-encapsulating, chemical resistant suit. (EPA, 1998)

Wear protective clothing when working with undiluted preparation.

If the compound has been ingested, rapid gastric lavage should be performed using 5% sodium bicarbonate. For skin contact, the skin should be washed with soap and water. If the compound has entered the eyes, they should be washed with large quantities of isotonic saline or water. In serious cases, atropine and/or pralidoxime should be administered. Anti-cholinergic drugs work to counteract the effects of excess acetylcholine and reactivate AChE. Atropine can be used as an antidote in conjunction with pralidoxime or other pyridinium oximes (such as trimedoxime or obidoxime), though the use of '-oximes' has been found to be of no benefit, or possibly harmful, in at least two meta-analyses. Atropine is a muscarinic antagonist, and thus blocks the action of acetylcholine peripherally.

Acute exposure to cholinesterase inhibitors can cause a cholinergic crisis characterized by severe nausea/vomiting, salivation, sweating, bradycardia, hypotension, collapse, and convulsions. Increasing muscle weakness is a possibility and may result in death if respiratory muscles are involved. Accumulation of ACh at motor nerves causes overstimulation of nicotinic expression at the neuromuscular junction. When this occurs symptoms such as muscle weakness, fatigue, muscle cramps, fasciculation, and paralysis can be seen. When there is an accumulation of ACh at autonomic ganglia this causes overstimulation of nicotinic expression in the sympathetic system. Symptoms associated with this are hypertension, and hypoglycemia. Overstimulation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the central nervous system, due to accumulation of ACh, results in anxiety, headache, convulsions, ataxia, depression of respiration and circulation, tremor, general weakness, and potentially coma. When there is expression of muscarinic overstimulation due to excess acetylcholine at muscarinic acetylcholine receptors symptoms of visual disturbances, tightness in chest, wheezing due to bronchoconstriction, increased bronchial secretions, increased salivation, lacrimation, sweating, peristalsis, and urination can occur. Chronically high (>10 years) exposure leads to neuropsychological consequences including disturbances in perception and visuo-motor processing (A15321).

LC50 Trout 0.3 mg/l/96 hr /Conditions of bioassay not specified/

LC50 Carp 4.3 mg/l/96 hr /Conditions of bioassay not specified/

LD50 Duck oral 3.5 mg/kg

TERRESTRIAL FATE: The N-methylcarbamate pesticides (of which promecarb is a member) are generally biodegradable and of low soil persistence(1). Chemical degradation of promecarb in moist soil is expected to proceed via hydrolysis. The aqueous hydrolysis half-life has been estimated to be 1.2 days at 25 °C and pH 7; the hydrolysis rate is expected to increase under alkaline conditions, but decrease with acidity in soil. Promecarb is expected to have low to moderate soil mobility which suggests that some leaching may be possible. Leaching in neutral and alkaline soils may not be significant, however, due to concurrent hydrolysis(SRC).

AQUATIC FATE: Hydrolysis appears to be an important degradation process for promecarb in water. The aqueous hydrolysis half-life has been estimated to be 1.2 days at 25 °C and pH 7(1); the hydrolysis rate is expected to increase under alkaline conditions, but may decrease significantly in acidic in natural waters.

ATMOSPHERIC FATE: Based upon a vapor pressure of 0.00003 mm Hg at 25 °C(1), promecarb can be expected to exist in both the gas phase and particulate phase in the ambient atmosphere(2,SRC). Gas phase promecarb is expected to degrade rapidly in air by reaction with photochemically produced hydroxyl radicals; the half-life for this reaction in an average atmosphere has been estimated to be about 5 hr. Particulate phase promecarb may be physically removed from air via wet and dry deposition(SRC).

Promecarb is a cholinesterase or acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitor. Carbamates form unstable complexes with chlolinesterases by carbamoylation of the active sites of the enzymes. This inhibition is reversible. A cholinesterase inhibitor suppresses the action of acetylcholine esterase. Because of its essential function, chemicals that interfere with the action of acetylcholine esterase are potent neurotoxins, causing excessive salivation and eye-watering in low doses. Headache, salivation, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea are often prominent at higher levels of exposure. Acetylcholine esterase breaks down the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is released at nerve and muscle junctions, in order to allow the muscle or organ to relax. The result of acetylcholine esterase inhibition is that acetylcholine builds up and continues to act so that any nerve impulses are continually transmitted and muscle contractions do not stop.

As with organophosphates, the signs and symptoms are based on excessive cholinergic stimulation. Unlike organophosphate poisoning, carbamate poisonings tend to be of shorter duration because the inhibition of nervous tissue acetylcholinesterase is reversible, and carbamates are more rapidly metabolized. Muscle weakness, dizziness, sweating and slight body discomfort are commonly reported early symptoms. Headache, salivation, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea are often prominent at higher levels of exposure. Contraction of the pupils with blurred vision, incoordination, muscle twitching and slurred speech have been reported. (L795)

Utilizing soil thin-layer chromatography, the Rf value of promecarb in Hagerstown silty clay loam soil was measured to be 0.34 which is suggestive of low to moderate soil mobility(1). Based upon a water solubility of 91 ppm at 25 °C(2) and a measured log Kow of 3.10(3), the Koc value for promecarb can be estimated to range from 365 to 1240 from various regression-derived equations(4,SRC). These estimated Koc values also indicate low to medium soil mobility(5).

Symptomatology: 1. Nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea & excessive salivation ... sweating. 2. Lassitude & weakness. 3. Rhinorrhea and sensation of tightness in chest may occur with inhalation exposure. 4. Blurring or dimness of vision. Miosis ... tearing, ciliary muscle spasm, loss of accommodation and ocular pain. None of these ... signs ... is dependable for diagnosis. Mydriasis may be seen ... . 5. Loss of muscle coordination, slurring of speech, fasciculation & twitching of muscles. 6. Difficulty in breathing, excessive secretions of saliva and of resp tract mucus, oronasal frothing, cyanosis, pulmonary rales & rhonchi, and hypertension. 7. ... Jerky movements, incontinence, convulsions and coma. 8. Death ... due to resp arrest of central origin, paralysis of resp muscles, intense bronchoconstriction or all three. /Carbaryl/

... MOST OF AROMATIC CARBAMATE ESTER INSECTICIDES HAVE LOW DERMAL TOXICITIES. /CARBAMATES/

Promecarb was tried on a village scale at the WHO Insecticide Testing Unit in Nigeria, in 1965. Its residual action against adult mosquitos was found very effective. Three spraymen spent 3 days spraying empty houses and then 3 more days spraying an inhabited village. They were under constant medical supervision. There were no complaints, and clinical examination failed to reveal any signs. All the 90 inhabitants of the sprayed village were examined clinically at least once within the fortnight after spraying. The only findings were discrete skin eruptions in two young men. These eruptions, of an obvious contact dermatitis type, caused moderate itching that was relieved by calamine lotion; they disappeared completely in 5 to 6 days. ... The plasma cholinesterase levels were studied among the spraymen and residents by the electrometric, spectrophotometric, and Acholest methods; a significant depression of activity was demonstrated by all three. The plasma cholinesterase activity of the three spraymen was measured daily. All showed depressions from the first day onward. During 3 days of consecutive spraying, the level of activity went steadily down in two of the three spraymen. On the last day of the operation, the plasma cholinesterase activity of one sprayman was about 40.% of its original level when measured by the spectrophotometric and Acholest methods. Three to four days after the end of exposure, plasma cholinesterase activity among the spraymen had not quite returned to the level measured before exposure, but it was normal in 5 days. Among the residents, there was a decrease of plasma cholinesterase activity to about 50% of the prespraying level a week after the end of the spraying operations One month later, there was a general rise, but the plasma cholinesterase levels were still far below the original values.

When tested for malaria control, promecarb caused cholinesterase inhibition amoung both sprayers and villagers but no signs or symptoms in either except for contact dermatitis in two male villagers.

Used as contact insecticide (outside the US); Likely discontinued for pesticide use worldwide; [HSDB]

Not sold or used in the US; [CAMEO]

Farming (Pesticides) [Category: Industry]

INSECTICIDE (NON-US USE ONLY)

Promecarb is used as a non-systemic contact insecticide against lepidopterous pests and leaf miners of fruits.

For Colorado potato beetle, ... corn rootworm.

REACTION OF 3-ISOPROPYL-5-METHYLPHENOL & METHYL ISOCYANATE

/PROMECARB IS/ MADE BY REACTION OF 5-ISOPROPYL-M-CRESOL WITH METHYL ISOCYANATE ... .

The WHO Recommended Classification of Pesticides by Hazard identifies Promecarb (technical grade) as an active ingredient believed to be obsolete or discontinued for use as a pesticide.

WEST GERMAN PATENT 1,156,272; BRITISH PATENT 916,707

PROMECARB IS A NON-SYSTEMIC CONTACT INSECTICIDE EFFECTIVE AGAINST COLEOPTEROUS PESTS SUCH AS POST-EMBRYONIC STAGES OF LEPTINOTARSA DECEMLINEATA @ 450 G ACTIVE INGREDIENT/HECTARE, AGAINST LEPIDOPTEROUS PESTS AND LEAF MINERS OF FRUIT @ 50-100 G/L.

INCOMPATIBLE WITH ALKALINE PREPARATIONS.