DNA Damage in Wistar Rats Exposed to Dithiocarbamate Pesticide Mancozeb

Goldoni, A.; Klauck, C. R.; Da Silva, S. T.; Da Silva, M. D.; Ardenghi, P. G.; Da Silva, Luciano Basso

doi:10.14712/fb2014060040202

Folia Biologica > Archive > 2014, Vol. 60 > Issue 4 > DNA Damage in Wistar Rats Exposed to…

Fol. Biol. 2014, 60, 202-204

https://doi.org/10.14712/fb2014060040202

DNA Damage in Wistar Rats Exposed to Dithiocarbamate Pesticide Mancozeb

A. Goldoni¹, C. R. Klauck¹, S. T. Da Silva², M. D. Da Silva², P. G. Ardenghi^2,3, Luciano Basso Da Silva^1,2,3

¹Research Group on Environmental Quality Indicators, Universidade Feevale, Novo Hamburgo, RS, Brazil
²Research Group on Human Health and Environment, Universidade Feevale, Novo Hamburgo, RS, Brazil
³Graduate Program in Environmental Quality, Universidade Feevale, Novo Hamburgo, RS, Brazil

Received August 2013
Accepted March 2014

Pesticides are used in large amounts in agriculture and the evaluation of their toxic effects is of major concern to public and environmental health. The aim of the present study was to investigate the genotoxic potential of a commercial formulation of the fungicide mancozeb by the micronucleus test in bone marrow and the comet assay in total blood of Wistar rats. Adult male Wistar rats were treated with a solution of mancozeb at a concentration of 40 mg/kg/day, administered intraperitoneally for 18 consecutive days, and compared to a control group. The results indicate that mancozeb induced significantly higher DNA damage as detected by the comet assay and increased the frequency of micronuclei. The results show that mancozeb is genotoxic and may adversely affect the DNA integrity of exposed organisms.