| Front page | | Contents | | Previous | | Next |

Appendices 1-18 to: Report on the Health Effects of Selected Pesticide Coformulants

14   Evaluation

The critical effects of diammonium sulphate are the local effects observed in the lungs:
A lot of studies in humans and animals have evaluated the pulmonary effects of exposure to diammonium sulphate aerosols. Statistically small changes in the pulmonary function have been measured in some (but not all of the studies) in both humans and animals. Histological examination of the lungs of exposed rats and guinea pigs revealed transient increased alveolar fibrosis, alveolar cord length, and hypertrophy and hyperplasia of non-ciliated epithelial cells in the alveoli and bronchioles in some (but not all of the studies). In addition, diammonium sulphate seems to potentiate the effect of the bronchoconstrictor carbachol (studied in humans), ozone (studied in humans and rats), albumin used to induce asthmatic dyspnoea (studied in guinea pigs), and elastase used to model chronic pulmonary impairment (studied in rats).
All of the observed effects occurred at doses around 1 mg/m³ of diammonium sulphate with a MMAD of about 0.5 mm. However, in rats exposed to 300 mg/m³ of diammonium sulphate with an average particle size of 1-2 mm, no pulmonary changes were observed. The deposition of aerosols in the lungs is dependent on several factors (e.g. particle size and ventilation rate), which might have been different in the different studies and possibly can explain the apparent inconsistency in results.

Upper respiratory irritation was reported in one of the human studies in some of the volunteers exposed to 0.5 mg/m³ of diammonium sulphate.

Diammonium sulphate was, according to the citations in IUCLID (2000), not irritating to rabbit skin and eyes in the two studies reported. However, the description of the studies is limited (e.g., information on the concentration of the applied chemical is not stated); therefore, the studies are considered inadequate with respect to an evaluation of the irritant potential of diammonium sulphate.

Death following acute exposure to high oral doses of diammonium sulphate has been reported in a human case report and in animal studies.

The only effect observed in rats fed diammonium sulphate in their diet for 13 weeks was diarrhoea in the males in the highest dose group exposed to 1975 mg/kg b.w. per day.  

None of the tests for mutagenicity and genotoxicity indicate any potential for diammonium sulphate to possess such properties No adequate carcinogenic studies with diammonium sulphate have been found.

No data have been found for reproductive and developmental effects.

| Front page | | Contents | | Previous | | Next | | Top |