1
|
Nagy K, Duca RC, Lovas S, Creta M, Scheepers PTJ, Godderis L, Ádám B. Systematic review of comparative studies assessing the toxicity of pesticide active ingredients and their product formulations. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2020; 181:108926. [PMID: 31791711 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2019.108926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2019] [Revised: 11/14/2019] [Accepted: 11/14/2019] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Humans are exposed to complex chemical mixtures, such as pesticides. Although the need for the assessment of health and environmental hazards deriving from the interactions between various substances found in commercial pesticide formulations is becoming increasingly recognized, the approval of pesticide products is still mostly limited to determining the toxicity of the individual ingredients ignoring the possible combined effects in mixtures. The objective of this study was to systematically review the literature of in vitro and in vivo studies that simultaneously examine the toxicity of pesticide product formulations and their declared active ingredients to compare their toxicity to human health and to the environment. Two electronic databases were searched for studies that assessed the health effects of active pesticide ingredients and their product formulations. The literature search was performed with a combination of the following terms: "pesticide", "formulation", "commercial product", "commercial pesticide" and "health". After screening by predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, quality and reliability assessment of eligible publications was conducted by use of the ToxRTool. Two investigators independently screened the identified publications and extracted results from eligible studies. Our search yielded 36 toxicity studies; 23 studies investigated herbicides, 15 examined insecticides and 4 focused on fungicides. Twenty-four studies reported increased toxicity of the product formulations versus their active ingredients, which, in most cases, were attributed to the presence of adjuvants in the formulations. A significant number (n = 10) of studies focused on the comparative testing of glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides, and six of them concluded that Roundup, the dominant product formulation of glyphosate, is more toxic than the active ingredient alone. We identified only 8 studies demonstrating reduced toxicity of product formulations in relation to the active ingredient that might be due to a potential antagonistic effect between the constituents. The results of this review demonstrate the inadequacy of current EU testing requirements for assessing the health hazards of pesticide product formulations based mainly on the evaluation of the individual ingredients and of at least one representative use and formulation. Ignoring the possible risks deriving from the interaction between the active and other ingredients of various commercial pesticide product formulations might result in the misinterpretation of its toxicological profile. At EU level efforts are currently made to address this issue. In this context, we recommend that all product formulations should be fully assessed during the authorization process.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Károly Nagy
- Division of Occupational Health, Department of Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Public Health, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
| | - Radu Corneliu Duca
- Unit Environmental Hygiene and Human Biological Monitoring, Department of Health Protection, National Health Laboratory (LNS), Dudelange, Luxembourg; Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Szabolcs Lovas
- Division of Occupational Health, Department of Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Public Health, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary; Doctoral School of Health Sciences, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Matteo Creta
- Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Paul T J Scheepers
- Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Lode Godderis
- Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; IDEWE, External Service for Prevention and Protection at Work, 3001, Heverlee, Belgium
| | - Balázs Ádám
- Division of Occupational Health, Department of Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Public Health, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Lo YC, Yang CC, Deng JF. Acute alachlor and butachlor herbicide poisoning. Clin Toxicol (Phila) 2008; 46:716-21. [DOI: 10.1080/15563650701704834] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
|
3
|
Vial T, Nicolas B, Descotes J. Clinical immunotoxicity of pesticides. JOURNAL OF TOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH 1996; 48:215-29. [PMID: 8656446 DOI: 10.1080/009841096161294] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Because of the wide use of pesticides for domestic and industrial purposes, the evaluation of their immunotoxic effects is of major concern for public health. Despite the large amount of experimental data describing pesticide-induced immunosuppression, evidence that pesticides may severely impair immune functions in humans is lacking or scarce. Contact hypersensitivity is a well-identified immunotoxic effect of pesticides but remains a rare complaint in pesticide-exposed workers. By contrast, immunologically mediated systemic reactions have been described only as debatable case reports. The association between autoimmune diseases and pesticide exposure has more recently been suggested. Despite the lack of convincing human data, a potential risk for the immune system should not be excluded, especially during chronic exposure to pesticides or in otherwise (immuno) compromised patients (malnutrition, children, old patients). Epidemiological studies including markers of exposure and the assessment of immune competence in exposed individuals, or registries of sentinel diseases related to immunosuppression (e.g., non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, opportunistic infections) or autoimmunity (e.g. lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis), are warranted.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- T Vial
- Department of Pharmacology and Medical Toxicology, INSERM U80, Laennec Faculty of Medicine, Lyon, France
| | | | | |
Collapse
|