Developmental Toxicity Evaluation of California Pesticide/Fertilizer Mixture Administered in the Drinking Water to Sprague-Dawley (CD) Rats on Gestational Days 6 to 20. Final Study Report and Appendices

摘要

Pesticides and fertilizers, as used in modern agriculture, contribute to the overall low-level contamination of groundwater sources. In order to determine the potential of pesticide and fertilizer mixtures to produce developmental toxicity at concentrations up to 100X those found in groundwater, the authors studied a mixture of five pesticides (aldicarb, atrazine, dibromochloropropane, ethylene dibromide, and simazine) and one fertilizer component (ammonium nitrate). These chemicals and their relative concentrations in the stock mixture were selected on the basis of survey data from California (pesticides) and Iowa (fertilizer). The mixture (CALF) was administered in the drinking water to Sprague-Dawley rats (21-23/gp) on gestational days 6 to 20 at three dose levels, i.e., 1X, 10X, and 100X, where 1X was the median concentration of each pesticide component as determined in the surveys. Dams were monitored daily for signs of toxicity. In summary, under the conditions of the study, exposure of pregnant rats to a mixture of ammonium nitrate and pesticides at levels up to 100-fold greater than the median human exposure in groundwater supplies did not show any detectable adverse effects on the dam or developing conceptus.