APPLICABILITY OF THE AMES TEST AND MICRONUCLEUS TEST IN VIVO FOR THE EVALUATION OF THE EQUIVALENCE OF PESTICIDE TECHNICAL GRADE ACTIVE INGREDIENTS COMPARED TO ORIGINAL ACTIVE SUBSTANCES

Abstract

Introduction. Analogs of pesticides may differ from the original products in their properties because of the elevated level or the modified composition of the impurities. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the equivalence of such analogs using a number of criteria, including mutagenicity, to ensure their safety. The article compares the results of the research of genotoxic effects of technical grade active ingredients of pesticides in vitro and in vivo conditions to assess the applicability of such methods for equivalence determination of analogs of pesticides to patented products. Material and methods. The genotoxicity of 99 technical grade active ingredients of pesticides (59 names) was studied in vitro (Ames test) and in vivo. Results. In the Ames test mutagenic dose-dependent effects were revealed in the study of technical products of mesotrione, dimethoate, and pendimethalin both in the presence and in the absence of a metabolic activation system.In the in vivo test, a statistically significant dose-dependent increase in the frequency of micronucleated polychromatophilic erythrocytes in mouse bone marrow was detected after administration of six technical products mesotrione, pyrimiphos-methyl, dimethoate, glyphosate (2 products), isoproturon. Furthermore, different levels of genotoxic effects were found with technical materials of the same active ingredient from various productions, probably due to differences in the qualitative and quantitative composition of impurities. Conclusion. The present study indicated that in vitro and in vivo tests do not always demonstrate the same results of the genotoxicity assessment. Therefore, the use of only one bacterial reverse mutation test may not be sufficient to determine the equivalence of technical grade active ingredients of pesticides to the original active substances. To obtain а reliable evidence for the safe use of analogs of pesticides, it is necessary to usе at least two methods on different test objects.