Abstract
Studies were conducted to evaluate the subchronic and developmental toxicity of Ac-Di-Sol (croscarmellose sodium). In the subchronic study, groups of Sprague-Dawley rats (20/sex/group) received 0 (control), 10,000, or 50,000 ppm Ac-Di-Sol in the diet for 90 consecutive days (equivalent to 757 and 893 mg/kg/day for males and females fed 10,000 ppm, respectively, and to 3922 and 4721 mg/kg/day for males and females fed 50,000 ppm, respectively). No mortality, clinical signs of toxicity, or adverse toxicological effects on hematology or serum chemistry parameters, feed consumption, or ophthalmologic examinations were noted in any treatment group. Body weight gain was depressed in high-dose males during the final 3 weeks. The only treatment-related histological lesion noted was moderate renal mineralization at the corticomedullary junction in one high-dose female. This lesion was not considered a specific effect of Ac-Di-Sol, but rather a secondary effect resulting from a potential increase in urinary p H and renal excretion of sodium due to the high intake of sodium associated with Ac-Di-Sol. In the developmental toxicity study, groups of pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats (25/group) received 0 (control), 10,000, or 50,000 ppm Ac-Di-Sol in the diet on gestational days 6 to 15. No evidence of maternal, fetal, or embryo toxicity was noted. The no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) for Ac-Di-Sol in both studies exceeds 50,000 ppm in the diet, which represents doses of 3922 and 4712 mg/kg/day, for males and females, respectively. The results of these studies demonstrate the low subchronic oral toxicity and developmental toxicity of Ac-Di-Sol, and support the safe use of Ac-Di-Sol in oral applications such as pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements, and sweetener tablets.