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The Carcinogenic Potency Project

DDT (CAS 50-29-3)
SMILES, InChI and Structure are below.
Rats and Mice: Cancer Test Summary
Rat Target Sites Mouse Target Sites TD50 (mg/kg/day)
Male Female Male Female Rat Mouse
liv liv hmo liv lun hmo liv lun 84.7m 12.8m,v

Hamsters: Cancer Test Summary
Hamster Target Sites TD50
(mg/kg/day)
Male Female
no positive no positive no positive

Monkeys: Cancer Test Summary
Monkey Target Sites TD50
(mg/kg/day)
Rhesus Cynomulgus Rhesus Cynomulgus
no positive no positive no positive no positive

Key to the Table Above

Positivity: For each chemical with a positive (carcinogenic) experiment in the Carcinogenic Potency Database (CPDB), results are included on carcinogenic potency (TD50) in each species and target sites in males and females. Positivity is determined by an author’s opinion in a published paper. If all experimental results in the CDPB are negative in a sex-species group, “no positive” appears. If the CPDB has no experiments in the sex-species group, “no test” appears. The summary presents the strongest evidence of carcinogenicity in each group. If there are both positive and negative experiments in a sex-species, the negative results are ignored in this Summary Table.
Target Site Codes:   hmo = hematopoietic system. liv = liver. lun = lung. Target sites are listed if any author of published experimental results concluded that tumors were induced in that organ by the test agent. If there is more than one positive experiment in a sex-species, target sites listed may be from more than one experiment, e.g. if liver and lung are both listed, then liver may have been a target in one experiment and lung in another.
TD50: Our standardized measure of carcinogenic potency, TD50, is the daily dose rate in mg/kg body weight/day to induce tumors in half of test animals that would have remained tumor-free at zero dose. Whenever there is more than one positive experiment in a species, the reported TD50 value is a Harmonic Mean calculated using the TD50 value from the most potent target site in each positive experiment.
Superscripts:   m = There is more than one positive experiment in the species, and TD50 values from each positive experiment are used in the calculation of the reported Harmonic mean of TD50. v = Variation is greater than ten-fold among statistically significant (two-tailed p<0.1) TD50 values from different positive experiments.

The Carcinogenic Potency Database (CPDB) is a unique and widely used international resource of the results of 6540 chronic, long-term animal cancer tests on 1547 chemicals. The CPDB provides easy access to the bioassay literature, with qualitative and quantitative analyses of both positive and negative experiments that have been published over the past 50 years in the general literature through 2001 and by the National Cancer Institute/National Toxicology Program through 2004. The CPDB standardizes the diverse literature of cancer bioassays that vary widely in protocol, histopathological examination and nomenclature, and in the published author’s choices of what information to provide in their papers. Results are reported in the CPDB for tests in rats, mice, hamsters, dogs, and nonhuman primates.

For each experiment, information is included on species, strain, and sex of test animal; features of experimental protocol such as route of administration, duration of dosing, dose level(s) in mg/kg body weight/day, and duration of experiment; experimental results are provided on target organ, tumor type, and tumor incidence; carcinogenic potency (TD50) and its statistical significance; shape of the dose-response, author’s opinion as to carcinogenicity, and literature citation.

Only tests with dosing for at least ¼ the standard lifespan of the species and experiment length at least ½ the lifespan are included in the CPDB. Only routes of administration with whole body exposure are included. Doses are standardized, average dose rates in mg/kg/day. A description of methods used in the CPDB to standardize the diverse literature of animal cancer tests is presented for: 1) Criteria for inclusion of experiments 2) Standardization of average daily dose levels and 3) TD50 estimation for a standard lifespan. See Methods for other details.

TD50 provides a standardized quantitative measure that can be used for comparisons and analyses of many issues in carcinogenesis. The range of TD50 values across chemicals that are rodent carcinogens is more than 100 million-fold. More than half the chemicals tested are positive in at least one experiment.

A plot of all results on each experiment in the CPDB for this chemical is presented below. These results are the source information for the Cancer Test Summary table above.

DDT: All Experiments and Citations in CPDB

The definition of each code in the plot below will appear in a pop-up window when the field name in the header line is clicked, e.g., Strain, Site, Path. Each numbered line starts a new experiment and reports protocol information in black. Average daily dose-rates per kg body weight per day are in green. Remaining lines report experimental results in blue.

Abbreviations of fields in header line: # = the line number in the plot of all CPDB chemicals; Xpo = duration of dosing; Xpt = duration of experiment; Site = tissue; Path = tumor type; DR = dose-response; AuOp = author’s opinion about carcinogenicity; LoConf, UpConf = confidence limits (99%) on TD50; Inc = tumor incidence for each dose group.

See Guide to reading the plot for details on each field, using an example of one experiment.

See Help to improve readability, or to fit the plot onto the screen or a printed page.



Chemical (Synonym) CAS
# Species Sex Strain Route Xpo+Xpt PaperNum        0 Dose  1 Dose 2 Dose  3 Dose          Literature Reference or NCI/NTP:Site Path
Site Path Notes   TD50  DR Pval    AuOp LoConf UpConf   Cntrl   1 Inc  2 Inc   3 Inc                                                        Brkly Code

DDT 50-29-3 1714 H f nss eat 78w78 2596 0 26.1mg 52.3mg 105.mg Graillot;ejtx,8,353-359;1975 liv tum no dre P=1. - 51.9mg n.s.s. 0/30 0/30 0/30 0/30 1715 H m nss eat 78w78 2596 0 23.0mg 46.0mg 92.0mg liv tum no dre P=1. - 45.7mg n.s.s. 0/30 0/30 0/30 0/30 1716 H f syg eat 28m28 1179 0 13.1mg 26.1mg 52.3mg Cabral;tumo,68,5-10;1982 liv tum e no dre P=1. 59.9mg n.s.s. 0/39 0/28 0/28 0/40 tba mix e 639.mg * P<.4 - 154.mg n.s.s. 5/39 3/28 2/28 8/40 1717 H f syg eat 48w88 1400 0 28.5mg Agthe;pseb,134,113-116;1970 tba mix e no dre P=1. - 34.8mg n.s.s. 3/6 3/17 1718 H f syg eat 28m28 1556 0 105.mg Rossi;canr,43,776-781;1983 adr ade e 345.mg P<.005 - 152.mg 3.14gm 2/42 10/36 liv hem e 3.39gm P<.3 - 551.mg n.s.s. 0/42 1/36 lun tum e no dre P=1. - 1.03gm n.s.s. 2/42 0/36 tba mix e 781.mg P<.5 - 158.mg n.s.s. 13/42 14/36 1719 H m syg eat 28m28 1179 0 11.5mg 23.0mg 46.0mg Cabral;tumo,68,5-10;1982 liv mix e 311.mg Z P<.03 94.1mg n.s.s. 0/40 0/30 3/31 (0/39) tba mix e 145.mg * P<.02 - 68.7mg n.s.s. 3/40 5/30 8/31 11/39 1720 H m syg eat 48w85 1400 0 26.0mg Agthe;pseb,134,113-116;1970 tba mix e 113.mg P<.2 - 34.1mg n.s.s. 0/11 3/30 1721 H m syg eat 28m28 1556 0 92.0mg Rossi;canr,43,776-781;1983 liv tum e no dre P=1. - 883.mg n.s.s. 0/31 0/35 lun tum e no dre P=1. - 883.mg n.s.s. 1/31 0/35 tba mix e no dre P=1. - 167.mg n.s.s. 15/31 15/35 1722 M f b6c eat 78w92 TR131 : 0 9.50mg 19.5mg --- lym v# 61.2mg * P<.02 - 29.8mg n.s.s. 0/20 3/50 7/50 S TBA MXB v 59.2mg * P<.2 22.4mg n.s.s. 2/20 8/50 10/50 liv MXB v 151.mg * P<.09 52.1mg n.s.s. 0/20 1/50 3/50 liv:hpa,hpc,nnd. lun MXB v no dre P=1. n.s.s. n.s.s. 0/20 1/50 0/50 lun:a/a,a/c. 1723 M f b6c orl 80w80 133 0 19.3mg Innes;ntis,1968/1969 liv hpt evx 31.1mg P<.02 10.7mg n.s.s. 0/16 4/18 lun mix evx no dre P=1. 42.3mg n.s.s. 0/16 0/18 tba mix evx 24.0mg P<.009 9.05mg 526.mg 0/16 5/18 1724 M m b6c eat 78w91 TR131 : 0 2.30mg 4.40mg TBA MXB sv 2.04mg \ P<.4 - .345mg n.s.s. 4/20 6/50 (4/50) liv MXB sv no dre P=1. 4.67mg n.s.s. 2/20 1/50 1/50 liv:hpa,hpc,nnd. lun MXB sv no dre P=1. 4.67mg n.s.s. 1/20 1/50 0/50 lun:a/a,a/c. 1725 M m b6c orl 80w80 133 0 17.9mg Innes;ntis,1968/1969 liv hpt evx 8.95mg P<.0005 + 4.24mg 23.7mg 0/16 10/18 lun ade evx 127.mg P<.3 20.7mg n.s.s. 0/16 1/18 lun car evx 127.mg P<.3 20.7mg n.s.s. 0/16 1/18 tba mix evx 7.69mg P<.0005 3.72mg 19.2mg 0/16 11/18 1726 M f b6a orl 80w80 133 0 19.3mg --- rts evx 19.3mg P<.003 + 7.78mg 106.mg 0/17 6/18 liv hpt evx 137.mg P<.3 22.2mg n.s.s. 0/17 1/18 lun ade evx no dre P=1. 42.3mg n.s.s. 1/17 0/18 tba mix evx 21.3mg P<.07 7.42mg n.s.s. 2/17 7/18 1727 M m b6a orl 80w80 133 0 17.9mg liv hpt evx 16.7mg P<.02 + 6.56mg n.s.s. 1/18 7/18 lun ade evx no dre P=1. 18.5mg n.s.s. 2/18 2/18 tba mix evx 17.9mg P<.07 6.21mg n.s.s. 3/18 8/18 1728 M f bal eat 31m31 88 0 .260mg 2.60mg 32.5mg Terracini;ijcn,11,747-764;1973 liv lct eg 59.5mg * P<.0005 + 37.8mg 101.mg 0/50 0/58 1/50 28/57 lun ade g no dre P=1. - 238.mg n.s.s. 20/62 20/63 20/61 14/63 tba mix g no dre P=1. 73.1mg n.s.s. 56/62 51/63 48/61 48/63 1729 M f cf1 eat 26m26 89 0 12.6mg Thorpe;fctx,11,433-442;1973 liv mix e 5.82mg P<.0005 + 3.06mg 13.0mg 10/44 26/30 liv lct e 20.0mg P<.0005 + 10.2mg 47.1mg 0/44 12/30 lun tum e no dre P=1. - 40.4mg n.s.s. 27/44 9/30 1730 M f cf1 eat 31m31 90 0 .260mg 1.30mg 6.50mg 32.5mg Tomatis;ijcn,10,489-506;1972 liv hpt eg 43.0mg * P<.0005 + 28.1mg 71.8mg 2/56 3/56 2/59 7/55 31/49 lun tum eg 121.mg * P<.04 - 47.7mg n.s.s. 13/56 17/56 22/59 23/55 23/49 ute tum eg no dre P=1. - 334.mg n.s.s. 2/56 8/56 3/59 4/55 2/49 tba mix eg 106.mg * P<.5 20.1mg n.s.s. 45/56 50/56 52/59 48/55 44/49 1731 M f cf1 eat 26m26 103 0 6.50mg 13.0mg Walker;fctx,11,415-432;1973 liv mix e 9.11mg * P<.0005 + 5.53mg 18.6mg 8/47 15/30 24/32 liv lpb e 76.5mg * P<.007 31.2mg 895.mg 0/47 2/30 4/32 lun ade e no dre P=1. - 52.1mg n.s.s. 19/47 6/30 7/32 lun car e no dre P=1. - 48.8mg n.s.s. 3/47 5/30 1/32 1732 M f cf1 eat 7m28 1012 0 8.13mg Tomatis;zkko,82,25-35;1974 liv hpt 34.2mg P<.0005 + 16.7mg 99.9mg 1/90 11/54 tba tum no dre P=1. 13.0mg n.s.s. 77/90 41/54 1733 M f cf1 eat 30w95 1012m 0 10.3mg liv hpt 26.3mg P<.0005 + 13.2mg 64.3mg 0/72 11/55 tba tum 17.9mg P<.4 4.65mg n.s.s. 52/72 44/55 1734 M f cf1 eat 30w65 1012n 0 15.0mg liv hpt 52.2mg P<.01 + 18.0mg 5.13gm 0/69 4/54 tba tum 150.mg P<.9 9.20mg n.s.s. 27/69 22/54 1735 M m cf1 eat 26m26 89 0 11.7mg Thorpe;fctx,11,433-442;1973 liv mix e 8.04mg P<.0005 + 4.17mg 21.3mg 11/45 23/30 liv lct e 30.3mg P<.003 + 13.1mg 195.mg 2/45 9/30 lun tum e no dre P=1. - 29.5mg n.s.s. 27/45 11/30 1736 M m cf1 eat 29m31 90 0 .240mg 1.20mg 6.00mg 30.0mg Tomatis;ijcn,10,489-506;1972 liv hpt e 34.7mg * P<.0005 + 19.4mg 86.6mg 12/55 25/58 28/53 24/53 38/50 lun tum e no dre P=1. - 151.mg n.s.s. 23/55 38/58 29/53 27/53 19/50 tba mix e no dre P=1. 24.9mg n.s.s. 46/55 53/58 48/53 49/53 44/50 1737 M m cf1 eat 26m26 103 0 6.00mg 12.0mg Walker;fctx,11,415-432;1973 liv mix e 15.0mg * P<.0005 + 8.40mg 43.3mg 6/47 12/32 17/32 liv lpb e 72.6mg * P<.02 29.6mg n.s.s. 0/47 3/32 3/32 lun ade e 49.3mg * P<.4 - 12.9mg n.s.s. 18/47 13/32 16/32 lun car e no dre P=1. - 30.6mg n.s.s. 0/47 0/32 0/32 1738 M m cf1 eat 7m28 1012 0 7.50mg Tomatis;zkko,82,25-35;1974 liv hpt 12.5mg P<.002 + 6.40mg 53.1mg 33/98 37/60 tba tum no dre P=1. 8.22mg n.s.s. 83/98 49/60 1739 M m cf1 eat 30w95 1012m 0 9.47mg liv hpt 6.70mg P<.0005 + 3.86mg 15.9mg 24/83 41/60 tba tum 4.59mg P<.02 1.90mg n.s.s. 65/83 56/60 1740 M m cf1 eat 30w65 1012n 0 13.8mg liv hpt 4.55mg P<.0005 + 2.76mg 9.13mg 12/70 38/60 tba tum 5.35mg P<.02 2.39mg n.s.s. 42/70 48/60 1741 M f swi eat 80w80 2176m 0 13.0mg Kashyap;ijcn,19,725-729;1977/pers.comm. --- lkm 21.9mg P<.04 + 8.35mg n.s.s. 2/30 8/30 liv hpc 50.0mg P<.04 + 15.1mg n.s.s. 0/30 3/30 lun ade 73.8mg P<.3 + 16.3mg n.s.s. 1/30 3/30 tba mix 10.3mg P<.006 4.68mg 138.mg 5/30 15/30 1742 M f swi gav 80w80 2176n 0 7.14mg --- lkm 12.0mg P<.04 + 4.59mg n.s.s. 2/30 8/30 lun ade 19.5mg P<.08 + 6.37mg n.s.s. 1/30 5/30 liv hpc 20.2mg P<.02 + 6.98mg n.s.s. 0/30 4/30 tba mix 3.16mg P<.0005 1.64mg 9.24mg 5/30 20/30 1743 M m swi eat 80w80 2176m 0 12.0mg --- lkm 20.2mg P<.04 + 7.70mg n.s.s. 2/30 8/30 lun ade 29.1mg P<.2 + 8.51mg n.s.s. 4/30 8/30 liv hpc 44.6mg P<.2 + 12.5mg n.s.s. 1/30 4/30 tba mix 5.31mg P<.003 2.52mg 30.6mg 10/30 22/30 1744 M m swi gav 80w80 2176n 0 7.14mg --- lkm 18.8mg P<.2 5.87mg n.s.s. 2/30 6/30 lun ade 23.6mg P<.4 5.77mg n.s.s. 4/30 7/30 liv hpc 82.5mg P<.6 11.3mg n.s.s. 1/30 2/30 tba mix 10.1mg P<.2 3.09mg n.s.s. 10/30 15/30 1745 P b cym eat 11y25 2003 : 0 9.95mg Adamson;ossc,129-156;1982/Thorgeirsson 1994/Dalgard 1997/ Thorgeirsson&Seiber pers.comm. eso ley w 16.6mg P<.2 2.70mg n.s.s. 0/3 1/2 liv hpc w 49.8mg P<.2 8.11mg n.s.s. 0/10 1/5 pro car w 105.mg P<.2 17.1mg n.s.s. 0/13 1/10 ute ley w 271.mg P<.7 21.0mg n.s.s. 1/25 1/12 tba mix w 21.4mg P<.4 3.57mg n.s.s. 4/25 4/12 tba ben w 60.1mg P<.6 4.77mg n.s.s. 2/25 2/12 tba mal w 78.8mg P<.8 5.33mg n.s.s. 3/15 2/10 1746 P b rhe eat 11y25 2003 : 0 10.8mg ute ley w no dre P=1. 7.35mg n.s.s. 6/29 1/5 tba ben Ww no dre P=1. 8.99mg n.s.s. 12/108 1/11 1747 R f osm eat 18m26 TR131 : 0 7.40mg 15.0mg TBA MXB v no dre P=1. - 16.8mg n.s.s. 16/20 38/50 27/50 liv MXB v no dre P=1. n.s.s. n.s.s. 0/20 0/50 0/50 liv:hpa,hpc,nnd. 1748 R f osm eat 27m27 21 0 10.0mg Deichmann;txap,11,88-103;1967 liv hpt 256.mg P<.3 - 41.7mg n.s.s. 0/30 1/30 tba mix no dre P=1. - 24.3mg n.s.s. 13/30 9/30 1749 R f osm eat 24m24 84a 0 4.00mg Radomski;txap,7,652-656;1965 liv mal no dre P=1. - 24.7mg n.s.s. 1/30 0/30 1750 R m osm eat 18m26 TR131 : 0 8.80mg 18.4mg TBA MXB v no dre P=1. - 14.2mg n.s.s. 10/20 29/50 32/50 liv MXB v no dre P=1. n.s.s. n.s.s. 0/20 0/50 0/50 liv:hpa,hpc,nnd. 1751 R m osm eat 27m27 21 0 8.00mg Deichmann;txap,11,88-103;1967 liv tum no dre P=1. - 62.6mg n.s.s. 0/30 0/30 tba mix no dre P=1. - 37.8mg n.s.s. 1/30 1/30 1752 R m osm eat 24m24 84a 0 3.20mg Radomski;txap,7,652-656;1965 liv mal no dre P=1. - 19.8mg n.s.s. 0/30 0/30 1753 R b alb eat 60w60 1457 0 .360mg Cameron;bmjl,2,819-821;1951 liv tum k no dre P=1. - .148mg n.s.s. 0/6 0/6 1754 R m f34 eat 17m24 1803 0 14.0mg Shivapurkar;carc,7,547-550;1986 liv nnd er 56.2mg P<.2 - 17.6mg n.s.s. 2/28 6/28 1755 R f por eat 33m33 1178 0 6.25mg 12.5mg 25.0mg Cabral;tumo,68,11-17;1982 liv lct 140.mg * P<.002 + 74.0mg 552.mg 0/38 2/30 4/30 7/38 tba mix no dre P=1. 47.0mg n.s.s. 32/38 26/30 27/30 27/38 1756 R m por eat 33m33 1178 0 5.00mg 10.0mg 20.0mg liv lct 902.mg * P<.4 - 174.mg n.s.s. 1/38 0/30 1/30 2/38 tba mix 90.1mg * P<.3 24.5mg n.s.s. 20/38 19/30 18/30 25/38 1757 R f wis eat 34m34 85 0 25.0mg Rossi;ijcn,19,179-185;1977 liv hpt ev 57.2mg P<.0005 + 31.1mg 122.mg 0/32 15/34 tba mix v 116.mg P<.4 29.5mg n.s.s. 19/35 23/35 1758 R m wis eat 34m34 85 0 20.0mg liv hpt e 92.6mg P<.0005 + 43.5mg 272.mg 0/35 9/36 tba mix no dre P=1. 42.6mg n.s.s. 19/36 19/37

Mutagenicity in Salmonella: negative
SMILES Code for DDT: ClC(C(C1=CC=C(C=C1)Cl)C2=CC=C(C=C2)Cl)(Cl)Cl
InChI Code for DDT: InChI=1/C14H9Cl5/c15-11-5-1-9(2-6-11)13(14(17,18)19)10-3-7-12(16)8-4-10/h1-8,13H
Source for SMILES and InChI: USEPA Distributed Structure-Searchable Toxicity (DSSTox) Database
Chemical Structure for DDT: Chemical Structure
Source for structure: National Library of Medicine ChemIDPlus

See full CPDB Summary Table on 1547 chemicals. See Full CPDB for all results on 6540 experiments of 1547 chemicals.

A complete list of CPDB chemicals, which is searchable by name or by CAS number, is available here.

For a compendium of CPDB results organized by target organ, which lists all chemicals in each species that induced tumors in each of 35 organs, see Summary Table by Target Organ.

The CPDB is available in several formats that permit printing and downloading into spreadsheets and statistical databases.

  1. A plot of the CPDB presents results of 1547 experiments on 6540 chemicals in an easily readable format that has been used in publications of the CPDB.
  2. A Screen version plot for use on a single computer screen, with the same data.
  3. Excel version of the same data.
  4. Tab-separated versions of the same data, which can be easily read into databases.

A Supplementary Dataset gives details on dosing and survival for each experiment.

Relatively precise estimates of the lower confidence limit on the TD10 (LTD10) are readily calculated from the TD50 and its lower confidence limit, which are reported in the CPDB. For researchers and regulatory agencies interested in LTD10 values, we provide them in an Excel spreadsheet.

PDF versions of our publications of analyses using the CPDB are available, organized by year and by research topic.


Last updated: October 3, 2007


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