No evidence of carcinogenicity for L-ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in rodents.
Carcinogenesis studies of L-ascorbic acid were conducted by offering diets containing 0, 25,000 or 50,000 ppm L-ascorbic acid to groups of 50 F344/N rats and 50 B6C3F1 mice of each sex for 103 wk. Survival of dosed and control female rats and of dosed and control female mice were comparable. Survival of high-dose male rats was slightly greater than that of the controls, whereas survival of high-dose male mice was significantly greater than that of the controls. There was no observed differences in neoplasms between treated and control groups that were considered related to L-ascorbic acid. In female rats, several lesions usually seen in aged animals showed a dose-related decline. Under the conditions of these studies, L-ascorbic acid given at 2.5% or 5.0% in the diet for 103 wk was not toxic or carcinogenic for male and female F344/N rats or for male and female B6C3F1 mice.
D000818:Animals; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000633:toxicity*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D006413:Hematopoietic System / Q000187:drug effects; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009374:Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000139:chemically induced*; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D012737:Sex Factors
D001205:Ascorbic Acid