Food & Drink / Compounds / Benomyl

Benomyl in food: ingestion safety

Elevated risk

(People-specific data is limited; this page draws from human adult context.) Benomyl is a benzimidazole systemic fungicide that was voluntarily cancelled in the US in 2001 (DuPont/Benlate). EPA classified it as Group C (possible human carcinogen). Teratogenic — causes microphthalmia and hydrocephaly in rats. Primary metabolite carbendazim (MBC) is the active antifungal. NOAEL 2.5 mg/kg/day. Reproductive toxicant: testicular toxicity in rats (tubular atrophy, reduced sperm count). Associated with multiple lawsuits in the 1990s over crop damage and health claims. Carbendazim remains in use in some countries.

What is benomyl?

Also known as: Benlate, Fundazol, Tersan 1991, methyl 1-(butylcarbamoyl)-1H-benzimidazol-2-ylcarbamate.

CAS number
17804-35-2
Molecular formula
C14H18N4O3
Molecular weight
290.32 g/mol
SMILES
CCCCNC(=O)N1C2=CC=CC=C2N=C1NC(=O)OC
PubChem CID
28780

Risk for people

Elevated risk

Benomyl is a benzimidazole systemic fungicide that was voluntarily cancelled in the US in 2001 (DuPont/Benlate). EPA classified it as Group C (possible human carcinogen). Teratogenic — causes microphthalmia and hydrocephaly in rats. Primary metabolite carbendazim (MBC) is the active antifungal. NOAEL 2.5 mg/kg/day. Reproductive toxicant: testicular toxicity in rats (tubular atrophy, reduced sperm count). Associated with multiple lawsuits in the 1990s over crop damage and health claims. Carbendazim remains in use in some countries.

Regulatory consensus

2 regulatory and scientific bodies have classified Benomyl. The classifications differ — that's the data.

AgencyYearClassificationNotes
EPA2001Voluntarily cancelled — all US registrations ended 2001
EU2014Not approved; carbendazim (metabolite) also not renewed since 2014

Regulators apply different standards of evidence — animal-data weighting, exposure-pattern assumptions, epidemiological power thresholds — which is why two scientific bodies can review the same data and reach different conclusions. The disagreement is the data.

Where you encounter benomyl

  • Agriculture Historical
  • Legacy Contamination
  • Imported Food

Safer alternatives

Lower-risk approaches that achieve a similar outcome to Benomyl:

  • Thiophanate-methyl
    Trade-offs: Still registered in US. Same resistance issues. Similar metabolite (carbendazim) concerns.
    Relative cost: Similar
  • Triazole fungicides (propiconazole, tebuconazole)
    Trade-offs: Different mode of action (sterol biosynthesis inhibition). Some endocrine disruption concerns of their own.
    Relative cost: Similar
  • Biological controls (Bacillus subtilis, Trichoderma)
    Trade-offs: Lower efficacy under high disease pressure. No chemical residues.
    Relative cost: Higher per application

Frequently asked questions

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Sources (1)
  1. EPA Reregistration Eligibility Decision — Benomyl (2002) — epa

Reference data, not professional advice. Aggregates publicly available regulatory and scientific data; not a substitute for veterinary, medical, legal, or regulatory advice. Why we built ALETHEIA →