Agrochemicals: Developmental Toxicity/Reproductive Toxicity

Abstract

Agrochemicals have been in use since the early days of modern agriculture. They have been well studied and subject to regulation by various federal and state agencies. There is growing concern about the safety of agrochemicals and how exposure may affect reproductive outcome in humans and other species. This article describes toxicity studies that focus on the developmental and reproductive systems of laboratory animals. The endpoints evaluated include infertility, birth defects (structural defects and functional deficits) and adverse effects on male or female reproductive systems. The classes of agrochemicals discussed include herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides as well as fumigants and other miscellaneous chemicals used in agriculture. Data typically submitted to regulatory agencies for the purposes of registration are not readily accessible in the open literature and an attempt has been made to present the findings from such studies. Regulatory issues such as testing requirements and approaches to risk assessment of compounds resulting in adverse reproductive outcome are also outlined. Available epidemiological data on the developmental toxicity of occupational and environmental agrochemical exposure are limited in the sense that while a number of studies have some indications of elevated risk for specific compounds, the epidemiological evidence on the whole is unclear.

Tracking Targets of Dynamic Super-Enhancers in Vitro to Better Characterize Osteoclastogenesis and to Evaluate the Effect of Diuron on the Maturation of Human Bone Cells

“…Diuron at high dietary levels in the rat ( for male and for female) induced bladder hyperplasia after 20 wk of exposure and neoplasia after 2 y according to a 2002 study from the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA). 21 Recently Briand et al. showed, in a xenograft mouse model, that diuron alone was not oncogenic in glioma, but that it could participate in tumorigenesis when it was associated with other events, such as overexpression of Akt.…”