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A COMPARISON OF MULTIPLE TOXICITIES FOLLOWING DEVELOPMENTAL EXPOSURE TO PESTICIDES: NEUROTOXICITY, IMMUNOTOXICITY, AND REPRODUCTIVE TOXICITY.
Citation:
Moser, V C., S. Padilla, S Barone, R J. Smialowicz, M. W. Harris, AND R. E. Chapin. A COMPARISON OF MULTIPLE TOXICITIES FOLLOWING DEVELOPMENTAL EXPOSURE TO PESTICIDES: NEUROTOXICITY, IMMUNOTOXICITY, AND REPRODUCTIVE TOXICITY. Presented at Society of Toxicology 42nd Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, March 9-13, 2003.
Description:
The NAS report (Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children, 1993) called for significant research effort into the long-term effects of perinatal pesticide exposure on the nervous, immune, and reproductive systems. In response, the US EPA and NIEHS collaborated on a series of multidisciplinary studies. The exposure paradigm was designed to encompass the development of all three organ systems (in the rat, mid-gestation through weaning and/or sexual maturity). Broad batteries of tests were used to evaluate the structure and function of each organ system in the offspring. Tissue levels of chemical and general pathology were also measured Where possible, littermates were used for the various endpoints, to draw stronger conclusions regarding relative organ system vulnerability. Five pesticides from different chemical classes, targeting different organ systems, were evaluated: methoxychlor (organochlorine), carbaryl (carbamate), chlorpyrifos (organophosphate), tebuconazole (triazole), and heptachlor (cyclodiene). A comparison of these data reveals two critical findings. First, no single organ system was consistently more sensitive than another. Developmental/reproductive measures were most sensitive to the effects of methoxychlor and carbaryl. The nervous system was most sensitive to tebuconazole, chlorpyrifos, and heptachlor, whereas the immune system was most altered by low doses of methoxychlor and heptachlor. Second, the lowest effective doses for methoxychlor and heptachlor were lower than those reported in the literature. Thus, adverse health effects following developmental exposure may occur at lower doses than previously expected. These multidisciplinary studies provide valuable and unique data; furthermore, this shows that these organ systems may be evaluated in a single combined study. This strongly supports the need for more thorough evaluation of the nervous, immune, and reproductive systems during development.
This abstract does not necessarily reflect EPA policy