Flutriafol – toxicity, side effects, diseases and environmental impacts
11/23/2017 / By Jhoanna Robinson
Flutriafol, which has the common trade name TopGuard and belongs to the triazole class, was registered as a fungicide under the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on April 29, 2010. It was manufactured by Cheminova under the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based chemical manufacturing company FMC Corp.
Flutriafol is a systemic, demethylation inhibitor fungicide that has both curative and preventive uses. It was first registered for use on apples, sugarbeet, rapeseed, and soybeans. In 2012, the EPA approved it for use in corn. Now, it also serves as a fungicide for cereal crops (wheat and barley) and is used for seed treatment by inhibiting ergosterol biosynthesis and thus disrupting fungal cell wall synthesis.
Flutriafol is also used to control rust.
List of known side effects
Flutriafol can cause harm to the human body when it is swallowed, when it comes into contact with the skin, and when it is inhaled. It can cause abrupt disruptions in metabolism, therefore making one either gain or lose excessive weight.
Sufferers of flutriafol exposure can also become anemic due to elevated total iron binding capacity and reduced serum iron concentration.
Flutriafol can also increase the body’s blood glucose levels, due to its effect of making the body over-accumulate lipids.
Some of the more unusual side effects of flutriafol include emaciation, shaking, urinary staining, hunched posture, subdued behavior, and piloerection or involuntary erection.
Since flutriafol has a half-life on one year in water and has the potential for mobility, it has the ability to potentially reach groundwater and contaminate it. As such, it can also be considered toxic to aquatic life.
Body systems affected by flutriafol
Flutriafol is bad for the excretory system. In rat, mouse, and dog toxicity studies, histopathological findings in the liver, such as fatty vacuolation or necrosis, are considered chronic. It can also cause liver adenoma and carcinoma and haemosiderin accumulation in the spleen and liver. Haemosidirin is an iron-storage complex that makes it very difficult to access or supply iron when it is needed.
Evidence of large or swollen and pale livers with well-defined surface reticulation was observed in sufferers of flutriafol exposure.
Flutriafol is bad for the reproductive system. It can cause skeletal anomalies (especially the hyoid bone, which is a horseshoe-shaped bone locate din the anterior midline of the neck between the chin and the thyroid cartilage whose main function is to hold the tongue) as well as incidences of cleft palates in a developing fetus.
It also causes adverse health effects for the mother and is often blamed as the culprit behind fetal resorption or what is called the “vanishing twin”, in which a fetus dies in utero and is partially reabsorbed into the womb.
Flutriafol also can cause reduced spermatogenesis, contributing to a low sperm count in males; atrophy of the prostate; and contracted tubules in the seminal vesicles.
Flutriafol is bad for the ocular system. It can cause mild irritation to the eyes.
Items that can contain flutriafol
The fungicide TopGuard, which is formulated as a liquid concentrate, has 11.8 percent of the active ingredient flutriafol. It is usually spread via ground or aircraft spray equipment. The maximum single application rate is 14 ounces of TopGuard (0.114 pounds of flutriafol) per acre per application for soybeans and 13 ounces of TopGuard (0.106 pounds of flutriafol) per acre per application for apples.
How to avoid flutriafol
It is important for applicators, mixers, and loaders to put on long-sleeved shirts, chemical-resistant gloves, and shoes plus socks whenever they are handling this product.
Where to learn more
Summary
Flutriafol is bad for the ocular system. It can cause mild irritation to the eyes.
Since flutriafol has a half-life on one year in water and has the potential for mobility, it has the ability to potentially reach groundwater and contaminate it. As such, it can also be considered toxic to aquatic life.
Some of the more unusual side effects of flutriafol include emaciation, shaking, urinary staining, hunched posture, subdued behavior, and piloerection or involuntary erection.
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