Ecotoxicological assessment of glyphosate‐based herbicides: Effects on different organisms

Glyphosate-based herbicides are the most commonly used worldwide because they are effective and relatively non-toxic to non-target species. Unlimited and uncontrolled use of such pesticides can have serious consequences for human health and ecological balance. We evaluated the acute toxicity and genotoxicity of two glyphosate-based formulations, Roundup Original (RUP) and Glyphosate AKB 480 (AKB), on different organisms: cucumber (Cucumis sativus), lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) seeds, microcrustacean Artemia salina and zebrafish (Danio rerio) early life stages. For germination endpoint, only L. esculentum presented significant sensitivity to AKB and L. sativa to RUP, whereas both formulations significantly inhibited the root growth of all species tested. AKB and RUP induced significant toxicity to A. salina being both classified as category 3, which indicates a hazard for the aquatic environment, according to Globally Harmonized Classification System (GHS) criteria. However, RUP was more toxic than AKB with LC50-48h 14.19 mg/L and 37.53 mg/L, respectively. For the embryo-larval toxicity test, RUP proved more toxic than AKB for mortality endpoint (LC50-96h 10.17 and 27.13 mg/L, respectively) while for the hatching parameter, AKB was more toxic than RUP. No significant genotoxicity to zebrafish larvae was found. We concluded that AKB and RUP glyphosate-based formulations are phytotoxic and induce toxic effects in non-target organisms such as A. salina and zebrafish early life stages. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved