Chlorpropham or CIPC is a

plant growth regulator Plant hormones (or phytohormones) are signal molecules, produced within plants, that occur in extremely low concentrations. Plant hormones control all aspects of plant growth and development, including embryogenesis, the regulation of organ si ...

and

herbicide Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weed killers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page f ...

used as a sprout suppressant for grass weeds,

alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial plant, perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, ...

, lima and

snap beans Green beans are young, unripe fruits of various cultivars of the common bean (''Phaseolus vulgaris''), although immature or young pods of the runner bean (''Phaseolus coccineus''), yardlong bean ( ''Vigna unguiculata'' subsp. ''sesquipedalis' ...

blueberries Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' with the genus ''Vaccinium''. Commercial blueberries—both wild (lowbush) ...

, cane fruit,

carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in colour, though heirloom variants including purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild ...

cranberries Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus ''Vaccinium''. Cranberries are low, creeping shrubs or vines up to long and in height; they have slender stems that are not t ...

, ladino

clover Clovers, also called trefoils, are plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with the highest diversit ...

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

, seed grass,

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...

spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to Central Asia, Central and Western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common vegetable consumed eit ...

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...

tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...

es,

safflower Safflower (''Carthamus tinctorius'') is a highly branched, herbaceous, thistle-like annual plant in the family Asteraceae. It is one of the world's oldest crops; today, it is commercially cultivated for vegetable oil extracted from the seeds. ...

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source o ...

gladioli ''Gladiolus'' (from Latin, the diminutive of ''gladius'', a sword) is a genus of perennial plant, perennial cormous flowering plants in the iris family (biology), family (Iridaceae). It is sometimes called the 'sword lily', but is usually cal ...

and woody nursery stock. It is also used to inhibit

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

sprouting and for sucker control in

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

. Chlorpropham is available in emulsifiable concentrate and liquid formulations. Chlorpropham is approved for use in the United States as a plant regulator and herbicide only on potatoes. The use of CIPC was banned in the EU and UK in 2019 after it was not reauthorised for use due to toxicity concerns, with sales prohibited from January 2020.

Uses

When it is used as an anti-sprouting agent for potatoes, the formulation is based on HN formulation, Hot Fogging. Commercial names include Pin Nip, Bud Nip, Taterpex, Preventol, Elbanil, Metoxon, Nexoval, Stickman Pistols, Preweed, Furloe, Stopgerme-S, Sprout Nip, Mirvale, Bygran, ChlorIPC, Spud-Nic, Spud-Nie, Chloro-IFK, Chloro-IPC, Keim-stop, Triherbicide CIPC, OORJA. For herbicide, an EC formulation is used so that it is dissolvable in water for spray in the field.

Toxicity

Chlorpropham displays a low level toxicity profile, with no signs of acute toxicity after exposure of less than 1000 mg/kg/day. Long term exposure at high doses (≥ 1000 mg/kg/day) could cause reduction of body weight gain, decrease in

hematocrit The hematocrit () (Ht or HCT), also known by several other names, is the volume percentage (vol%) of red blood cells (RBCs) in blood, measured as part of a blood test. The measurement depends on the number and size of red blood cells. It is nor ...

and

hemoglobin Hemoglobin (haemoglobin, Hb or Hgb) is a protein containing iron that facilitates the transportation of oxygen in red blood cells. Almost all vertebrates contain hemoglobin, with the sole exception of the fish family Channichthyidae. Hemoglobin ...

, and increase in blood

reticulocyte In hematology, reticulocytes are immature red blood cells (RBCs). In the process of erythropoiesis (red blood cell formation), reticulocytes develop and mature in the bone marrow and then circulate for about a day in the blood stream before dev ...

s. Regarding the carcinogenic risk, chlorpropham is classified by the EPA as group E (non-carcinogenic). One of its metabolites is 3-chloroaniline. The acceptable daily intake ranges from 0.03 mg/kg (

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition ...

2001) to 0.05 mg/Kg ( EPA 1996 and EC 2003).

Stability

Chlorpropham is partially degraded in the environment under aerobic conditions (15% to 30% after 100 days) and partially hydrolysed in water solution (90% after 59 to 130 days). A study of the stability of chlorpropham in potatoes (estimated concentration of chlorpropham: 1.8 to 7.6 mg/kg at 10 days post-application) revealed that mean concentration of chlorpropham in the tuber decreased spontaneously by 24% and 42% at 28 days and 65 days postapplication respectively. The study also showed that peeling removed 91–98% and washing 33–47%. Residues of chlorpropham were detected in the boiled potatoes, in the boiling water, in the French-fried potatoes and in the frying oil. According to this study, the theoretical dose for a 20 kg infant eating 100g of crude-peeled tuber would be 0.00018 to 0.00342 mg/kg.

References

External links

US NIST Chemistry WebBook Entry

* * * * * *{{cite journal , doi=10.2136/sssaj1976.03615995004000050028x , title=decomposessition of Fungal Mycelia and Humic-type Polymers Containing Carbon-14 from Ring and Side-chain Labeled 2,4-D and Chlorpropham1 , year=1976 , last1=Wolf , first1=D. C. , last2=Martin , first2=J. P. , journal=Soil Science Society of America Journal , volume=40 , issue=5 , pages=700, bibcode=1976SSASJ..40..700W Herbicides Plant growth regulators Carbamates Isopropyl esters 3-Chlorophenyl compounds Group 23 herbicides