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Presence of Carbamazepine in Drinking Water Does Not Appear to Cause Neural Tube Defects in Mice
Author(s) -
Melin Vanessa,
Hrubec Terry,
Magnin-Bissel Geraldine,
Blodgett Dennis,
Etzkorn Felicia
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.26.1_supplement.910.3
Subject(s) - carbamazepine , tap water , distilled water , neural tube , contamination , chemistry , pharmacology , toxicology , environmental chemistry , embryo , biology , chromatography , epilepsy , environmental engineering , environmental science , fishery , ecology , neuroscience
In May of 2006, our lab suddenly began to observe neural tube defects (NTDs) in embryos of untreated control mice. Exposure to a teratogenic agent in tap water was identified as the cause. Pharmaceuticals have emerged as ubiquitous contaminants of drinking water. One such NTD inducing drug, carbamazepine (CBZ), was analyzed. CBZ was detected in several ground, surface, and tap waters, ranging in concentrations from 0.28 ng/L to 9.5 ng/L. To test whether CBZ was responsible for NTDs, we exposed mice to CBZ in 2 water types. In well water, CBZ concentrations were at 15 and 1500 ng/L. In double distilled water, CBZ concentrations were at 6 and 1500 ng/L. Both studies found no significant differences in NTD rates among the dose groups. As no dose effect was observed, we concluded that CBZ was not directly responsible for the malformations; however it is possible a mixture of contaminants, including CBZ, may be involved. Grant Funding Source : NIH‐NIHSR21E5016886‐01