Common mechanism of toxicity: Evaluation of carbamate pesticides

A criteria-based approach developed for organophosphorus pesticides to determine if two or more chemicals act by a common mechanism of toxicity, was tested using carbamate pesticides. The carbamate case study was undertaken to evaluate: 1) whether the approach can be applied to chemicals other than organophosphorus pesticides, and 2) whether carbamate pesticides act by a common mechanism of toxicity. To test the approach, the biological and toxicological actions of three carbamate pesticides used as examples were evaluated based on the criteria developed for organophosphorus pesticides. A working group convened by ILSI's Risk Science Institute concluded that the approach to determine whether a group of chemicals act by a common mechanism of toxicity is applicable to other classes of chemicals. Three anticholinesterase carbamate compounds used as examples were found to cause the same critical effect, act in the same target tissues, and act by the same biochemical mechanism; thus, these three carbamate insecticides act by a common mechanism of toxicity.