Endocrine Disruption, Cytotoxicity and Genotoxicity of an Organophosphorus Insecticide

In the present study, a battery of biological tests undertaken in vitro and in vivo was used to evaluate the toxic potential of an organophosphorus insecticide, namely Fenitrothion. The cytotoxic effect of pesticide was evaluated with the MTT assay against two human cancer cell lines: Hep-2 and MDA-MB-231. Genotoxicity was also studied using the bacterial VITOTOX® assay. The estrogenic effect was tested using the recombinant yeasts (YES) assay. Likewise, bioluminescence assays using V. fischeri and D. magna immobilization were performed. The results showed that Fenitrothion exhibits a variable cytotoxic effect depending on the dose as well as the studied cell lines, and no genotoxicity was observed in the tested sample. However, an estrogenic effect was recorded when investigating Fenitrothion using the recombinant yeasts (YES) assay. Analogously, acute toxicity was observed for both organisms and at all tested concentrations of Fenitrothion. Overall, these results underline the crucial importance of in vitro and in vivo bioassays in monitoring toxicity of pesticides.